Which to use
“does” is a verb and “done” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #177
- “does” frequency rank
- #236
- “done” frequency rank
- 413
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | does | done |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | third-person singular simple present indicative of do | Having completed or finished an activity. |
Where the eye mixes does and done
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: does is /dəz/ while done is /dʌn/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 413, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
does is recorded at frequency rank #177, classified as averb, pronounced /dəz/. done is at rank #236, tagged as anadj, 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 413, this pair ranks #529,458 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of does vs done
Shared letters: deo. Private to "does": s. Private to "done": n.
"does" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "done" · 4 letters · shape CVCV