Which to use
“dente” is a noun and “doente” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,404
- “dente” frequency rank
- #2,318
- “doente” frequency rank
- 7722
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dente | doente |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | estrutura calcárea, dura, geralmente esmaltada, presente na boca dos animais vertebrados, usada para cortar, arrancar, triturar e moer alimentos, assim como para defesa e ataque | que tem a saúde alterada |
Letter map: dente vs doente
Shared letters muted; letters that set dente and doente apart highlighted. Shared run: 5. dente runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against doente's 6 (CVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Part-of-speech tell for dente / doente
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: dente is anoun and doenteanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7722, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dente is recorded at frequency rank #5,404, classified as anoun. doente is at rank #2,318, tagged as anadj.
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 7722, this pair ranks #66,349 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of dente vs doente
Shared letters: dent. Private to "dente": -. Private to "doente": o.
"dente" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "doente" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dente" and "doente" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "dente" vs "doente" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pair "dente" vs "doente" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "dente" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "doente" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #66,349 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dente" and "doente" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "delete vs dente". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #66,349 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.