duvsDVDConfusable pair

Quick tell: du is a pronoun, DVD is an abbrev, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#5,187
“du” frequency rank
#3,470
“DVD” frequency rank
8657
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature du DVD
Definition você, tu tipo de disco ótico para armazenar sons, imagens e/ou informações digitais, com capacidade entre 4,7 e 17 GB

Where the eye mixes du and DVD

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

2 ch
du
3 ch
DVD

Visual trap between du and DVD

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: du is /du:/ ouvir^(fonte ?) while DVD is /de.ve.ˈde/. 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 (pronoun vs abbrev), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8657, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

du is recorded at frequency rank #5,187, classified as apron, pronounced /du:/ ouvir^(fonte ?). DVD is at rank #3,470, tagged as anabbrev, pronounced /de.ve.ˈde/.

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 8657, this pair ranks #65,039 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of du vs DVD

Shared letters: d. Private to "du": u. Private to "DVD": v.

"du" · 2 letters · shape CV  ·  "DVD" · 3 letters · shape CCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "du" and "DVD" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "du" is a pronoun and "DVD" an abbrev, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "du" or "DVD" show up more?
"DVD" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,470 in our Portuguese list, against #5,187 for "du". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "du" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "DVD" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #65,039 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "du" and "DVD" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dat vs du". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #65,039 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