descer vs deste, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“descer” is a verb and “deste” is a contraction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,630
“descer” frequency rank: #346
“deste” frequency rank: 4976
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	descer	deste
Definition	ir ou passar de um lugar mais alto para um lugar mais baixo	contração da preposição de com o pronome ou determinante demonstrativo este:

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set descer and deste apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

descer

5 ch

deste

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: descer is averb and desteacontraction. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4976, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

descer is recorded at frequency rank #4,630, classified as averb, pronounced /dɨʃ.ˈseɾ/. deste is at rank #346, tagged as acontraction.

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 4976, this pair ranks #69,753 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of descer vs deste

Shared letters: des. Private to "descer": cr. Private to "deste": t.

"descer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "deste" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

descer ← ddescer · decser · desccer · descerr · descre · desecr · desscer · dsecer
deste ← ddeste · deset · desste · destte · detse · dsete · edste

Frequency comparison

descer#4,630

deste#346

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "descer" and "deste" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "descer" is a verb and "deste" a contraction, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "descer" or "deste"?

"deste" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #346 in our Portuguese list, against #4,630 for "descer". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering descer vs deste

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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