Which to use
“doce” is an adjective and “dos” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,532
- “doce” frequency rank
- #24
- “dos” frequency rank
- 1556
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | doce | dos |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | que tem sabor agradável, como o do açúcar, do mel ou qualquer outro adoçante | o número dois |
Where the eye mixes doce and dos
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses doce with dos
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: doce is /ˈdo.sɨ/ while dos is /dɔs/. 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 (adjective vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1556, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
doce is recorded at frequency rank #1,532, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈdo.sɨ/. dos is at rank #24, tagged as anum, pronounced /dɔs/.
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 1556, this pair ranks #73,991 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of doce vs dos
Shared letters: do. Private to "doce": ce. Private to "dos": s.
"doce" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "dos" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- doce ← dcoe · ddoce · docce · doec · odce
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "doce" for "dos" ever safe?
Frequency check: "doce" vs "dos" - which ranks higher?
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 "doce" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #73,991 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "doce" and "dos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dat vs dos". 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 #73,991 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.