Which to use
“dua” is a verb and “duas” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #39,112
- “dua” frequency rank
- #188
- “duas” frequency rank
- 39300
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dua | duas |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | querer | feminino de dois/dous; representado pelo símbolo 2 (algarismos indo-arábicos) ou II (algarismos romanos) |
Where the eye mixes dua and duas
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. dua runs 3 letters (CVV) against duas's 4 (CVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: dua vs duas
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dua is /ˈdwa/ while duas is /ˈdu.ɐʃ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “dua” sits inside “duas”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39300, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dua is recorded at frequency rank #39,112, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈdwa/. duas is at rank #188, tagged as anum, pronounced /ˈdu.ɐʃ/.
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 39300, this pair ranks #26,991 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dua vs duas
Shared letters: adu. Private to "dua": -. Private to "duas": s.
"dua" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "duas" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- duas ← daus · dduas · duass · dusa · udas
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dua" for "duas" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "dua" or "duas" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "dua" and "duas" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "dua" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "duas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #26,991 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dua" and "duas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dat vs dua". 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 #26,991 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.