dezvsdomTell them apart

Quick tell: dez is a adjective, dom is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“dez” is an adjective and “dom” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#771
“dez” frequency rank
#1,921
“dom” frequency rank
2692
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dez dom
Definition dotado de bons atributos casa (construção que serve de moradia)

Where the eye mixes dez and dom

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
dez
3 ch
dom

Visual trap between dez and dom

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dez is /ˈdɛʃ/ while dom is /dɔm/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2692, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dez is recorded at frequency rank #771, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈdɛʃ/. dom is at rank #1,921, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɔm/.

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 2692, this pair ranks #72,603 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of dez vs dom

Shared letters: d. Private to "dez": ez. Private to "dom": mo.

"dez" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "dom" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dez" and "dom" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dez" is an adjective and "dom" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "dez" or "dom" show up more?
"dez" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #771 in our Portuguese list, against #1,921 for "dom". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "dez" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dom" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #72,603 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dez" and "dom" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dat vs dom". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #72,603 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list