donavsdoneWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: dona is a noun, done is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“dona” is a noun and “done” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#44,532
“dona” frequency rank
#20,888
“done” frequency rank
65420
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dona done
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs donum „Gabe, Geschenk“ Partizip Perfekt (past participle) des Verbs do

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dona and done apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
dona
4 ch
done

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: dona is anoun and doneaverb. On the page they differ by a single letter - a in “dona” becomes e in “done”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65420, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dona is recorded at frequency rank #44,532, classified as anoun, pronounced […]. done is at rank #20,888, tagged as averb, pronounced [dʌn].

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 65420, this pair ranks #607,550 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dona vs done

Shared letters: dno. Private to "dona": a. Private to "done": e.

"dona" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "done" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • donaddona · dnoa · doan · odna
  • doneddone · dnoe · doen · donne · odne

Frequency comparison

dona#44,532
done#20,888

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dona" and "done" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dona" is a noun and "done" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "dona" or "done"?
"done" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,888 in our German list, against #44,532 for "dona". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dona vs done

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “dona”; for a verb, it's “done”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dona” 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