Which to use
“desse” and “desta” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #391
- “desse” frequency rank
- #364
- “desta” frequency rank
- 755
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | desse | desta |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | contração da preposição de com o pronome ou determinante demonstrativo esse: | contração da preposição de com o pronome ou determinante demonstrativo esta |
Where the eye mixes desse and desta
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. desse and desta follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: desse vs desta
A purely visual mix-up. desse (/ˈde.sɨ/) and desta (/ˈdɛʃ.tɐ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 755, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
desse is recorded at frequency rank #391, classified as acontraction, pronounced /ˈde.sɨ/. desta is at rank #364, tagged as acontraction, pronounced /ˈdɛʃ.tɐ/.
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 755, this pair ranks #74,902 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of desse vs desta
Shared letters: des. Private to "desse": -. Private to "desta": at.
"desse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "desta" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "desse" and "desta" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "desse" vs "desta" - which ranks higher?
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 "desse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "desta" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #74,902 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "desse" and "desta" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "desatar vs desta". 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 #74,902 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.