digvsduWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: dig is a verb, du is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“dig” is a verb and “du” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#34,238
“dig” frequency rank
#5,187
“du” frequency rank
39425
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dig du
Definition cavar, escavar você, tu

Letter map: dig vs du

Shared letters muted; letters that set dig and du apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
dig
2 ch
du

Part-of-speech tell for dig / du

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: dig is averb and duapronoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39425, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dig is recorded at frequency rank #34,238, classified as averb. du is at rank #5,187, tagged as apron, pronounced /du:/ ouvir^(fonte ?).

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 39425, this pair ranks #26,822 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dig vs du

Shared letters: d. Private to "dig": gi. Private to "du": u.

"dig" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "du" · 2 letters · shape CV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "dig" for "du" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dig" is a verb and "du" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "dig" or "du" show up more?
"du" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,187 in our Portuguese list, against #34,238 for "dig". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "dig" and "du".

  • Full dictionary entry for "dig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "du" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #26,822 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dig" and "du" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dat vs dig". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #26,822 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