didn'tvsdidntWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: didn't is a verb, didnt is a contraction, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“didn't” is a verb and “didnt” is a contraction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#195
“didn't” frequency rank
#5,319
“didnt” frequency rank
5514
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature didn't didnt
Definition did not (negative auxiliary) Misspelling of didn't.

Letter map: didn't vs didnt

Shared letters muted; letters that set didn't and didnt apart highlighted. Shared run: 5.

6 ch
didn't
5 ch
didnt

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: didn't is averb and didntacontraction. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5514, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

didn't is recorded at frequency rank #195, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈdɪdn̩t/. didnt is at rank #5,319, tagged as acontraction.

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 #515,037 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of didn't vs didnt

Shared letters: dint. Private to "didn't": -. Private to "didnt": -.

"didn't" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "didnt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • didntddidnt · ddint · diddnt · didnnt · didntt · didtn · dindt · iddnt

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "didn't" and "didnt" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "didn't" is a verb and "didnt" a contraction, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "didn't" or "didnt"?
"didn't" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #195 in our English list, against #5,319 for "didnt". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list