Which to use
“dessa” is a contraction and “devassa” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #375
- “dessa” frequency rank
- #31,330
- “devassa” frequency rank
- 31705
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dessa | devassa |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | contração da preposição de com o pronome ou determinante demonstrativo feminino essa: | ação ou resultado de devassar |
Where the eye mixes dessa and devassa
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: dessa vs devassa
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dessa is /ˈdɛ.sɐ/ while devassa is /dɨ.ˈva.sɐ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (contraction vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31705, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dessa is recorded at frequency rank #375, classified as acontraction, pronounced /ˈdɛ.sɐ/. devassa is at rank #31,330, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɨ.ˈva.sɐ/.
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 31705, this pair ranks #36,298 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dessa vs devassa
Shared letters: ades. Private to "dessa": -. Private to "devassa": v.
"dessa" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "devassa" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dessa" for "devassa" ever safe?
Which is more common, "dessa" or "devassa"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "dessa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "devassa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #36,298 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dessa" and "devassa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "devassa vs devastar". 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 #36,298 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.