docevsdozeWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: doce is a adjective, doze is a num, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“doce” is an adjective and “doze” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,532
“doce” frequency rank
#3,982
“doze” frequency rank
5514
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature doce doze
Definition que tem sabor agradável, como o do açúcar, do mel ou qualquer outro adoçante número equivalente a onze mais um; cardinalidade de um conjunto que contenha uma dúzia de elementos distintos; representado pelo símbolo 12 (algarismos arábicos), XII (algarismos romanos) ou 1100 (representação binária)

Where the eye mixes doce and doze

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
doce
4 ch
doze

Why the eye confuses doce with doze

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: doce is /ˈdo.sɨ/ while doze is /ˈdo.zɨ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - c in “doce” becomes z in “doze”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5514, 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/. doze is at rank #3,982, tagged as anum, pronounced /ˈdo.zɨ/.

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 5514, this pair ranks #69,081 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of doce vs doze

Shared letters: deo. Private to "doce": c. Private to "doze": z.

"doce" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "doze" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • docedcoe · ddoce · docce · doec · odce
  • dozeddoze · doez · dozze · dzoe · odze

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "doce" and "doze" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "doce" is an adjective and "doze" a num, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "doce" or "doze"?
"doce" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,532 in our Portuguese list, against #3,982 for "doze". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "doce" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "doze" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #69,081 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "doce" and "doze" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dodo vs doze". 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 #69,081 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