dovsdoloWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: do is a contraction, dolo is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“do” is a contraction and “dolo” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#6
“do” frequency rank
#43,862
“dolo” frequency rank
43868
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature do dolo
Definition contração da preposição de com o artigo definido o vontade livre e consciente de realizar uma conduta tipificada na legislação penal

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set do and dolo apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

2 ch
do
4 ch
dolo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: do is acontraction and doloanoun. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “do” sits inside “dolo”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43868, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

do is recorded at frequency rank #6, classified as acontraction, pronounced /du/ (/do/, se enfático). dolo is at rank #43,862, tagged as anoun.

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 43868, this pair ranks #21,706 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of do vs dolo

Shared letters: do. Private to "do": -. Private to "dolo": l.

"do" · 2 letters · shape CV  ·  "dolo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • doloddolo · dloo · dollo · dool · odlo

Frequency comparison

do#6
dolo#43,862

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "do" and "dolo" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "do" is a contraction and "dolo" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "do" or "dolo"?
"do" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6 in our Portuguese list, against #43,862 for "dolo". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering do vs dolo

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a contraction, it's “do”; for a noun, it's “dolo”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “do” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list