dizvsdoisConfusable pair

Quick tell: diz is a verb, dois is a num, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“diz” is a verb and “dois” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#156
“diz” frequency rank
#109
“dois” frequency rank
265
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature diz dois
Definition terceira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo dizer número equivalente a um mais um; cardinalidade de um conjunto que contenha um elemento e um outro elemento distinto; representado pelo símbolo 2 (algarismos indo-arábicos) ou II (algarismos romanos); seu feminino é duas

Where the eye mixes diz and dois

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
diz
4 ch
dois

Why the eye confuses diz with dois

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: diz is /ˈʤis/ while dois is /ˈdojʃ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 265, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

diz is recorded at frequency rank #156, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈʤis/. dois is at rank #109, tagged as anum, pronounced /ˈdojʃ/.

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 265, this pair ranks #75,370 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of diz vs dois

Shared letters: di. Private to "diz": z. Private to "dois": os.

"diz" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "dois" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • doisddois · dios · doiss · dosi · odis

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "diz" and "dois" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "diz" is a verb and "dois" a num, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "diz" vs "dois" - which ranks higher?
"dois" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #109 in our Portuguese list, against #156 for "diz". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "diz" and "dois" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "diz" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dois" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #75,370 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "diz" and "dois" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dat vs diz". 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 #75,370 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