densovsdesseWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: denso is a adjective, desse is a contraction, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“denso” is an adjective and “desse” is a contraction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#19,113
“denso” frequency rank
#391
“desse” frequency rank
19504
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature denso desse
Definition que tem muita massa em relação ao volume contração da preposição de com o pronome ou determinante demonstrativo esse:

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set denso and desse apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
denso
5 ch
desse

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: denso is /ˈdẽ.su/ while desse is /ˈde.sɨ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs contraction), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19504, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

denso is recorded at frequency rank #19,113, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈdẽ.su/. desse is at rank #391, tagged as acontraction, pronounced /ˈde.sɨ/.

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 19504, this pair ranks #51,189 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of denso vs desse

Shared letters: des. Private to "denso": no. Private to "desse": -.

"denso" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "desse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • densoddenso · dennso · denos · densso · desno · dneso · ednso
  • desseddesse · dese · deses · dsese · edsse

Frequency comparison

denso#19,113
desse#391

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "denso" and "desse" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "denso" is an adjective and "desse" a contraction, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "denso" or "desse"?
"desse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #391 in our Portuguese list, against #19,113 for "denso". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering denso vs desse

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “denso”; for a contraction, it's “desse”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “denso” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list