Which to use
“dig” and “do” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,940
- “dig” frequency rank
- #50
- “do” frequency rank
- 4990
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dig | do |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To move hard-packed earth out of the way, especially downward to make a hole with a shovel. Or to drill, or the like, through rocks, roads, or the like. More generally, to make any similar hole by moving material out of the way. | A syntactic marker. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dig and do apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
dig and do form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4990, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dig is recorded at frequency rank #4,940, classified as averb, pronounced /dɪɡ/. do is at rank #50, tagged as averb, pronounced /də/.
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 4990, this pair ranks #516,979 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dig" and "do" be used interchangeably?
Remembering dig vs do
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dig” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable