# deter vs deve

> Portuguese confusable word pair

## The two words

### deter
*verb · frequency rank #5,519*
proceder à detenção; prender; reter à força

### deve
*verb · frequency rank #182*
terceira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo dever

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/pt/vs/deter-vs-deve