Which to use
“den” is an article and “dun” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,112
- “den” frequency rank
- #45,320
- “dun” frequency rank
- 64432
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | den | dun |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | o, artigo definido masculino do caso acusativo singular: | penugem imatura em pássaros jovens |
Where the eye mixes den and dun
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. den and dun follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: den vs dun
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: den is /deːn/ ouvir^(fonte ?) while dun is /duːn/, [d̥uːˀn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “den” becomes u in “dun”, and the parts of speech differ too (article vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64432, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
den is recorded at frequency rank #19,112, classified as anarticle, pronounced /deːn/ ouvir^(fonte ?). dun is at rank #45,320, tagged as anoun, pronounced /duːn/, [d̥uːˀn].
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 64432, this pair ranks #5,783 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of den vs dun
Shared letters: dn. Private to "den": e. Private to "dun": u.
"den" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "dun" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "den" for "dun" ever safe?
Which is more common, "den" or "dun"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "den" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dun" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #5,783 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "den" and "dun" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dat vs dun". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #5,783 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.