Which to use
“don't” is a verb and “dont” is a contraction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #68
- “don't” frequency rank
- #1,856
- “dont” frequency rank
- 1924
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | don't | dont |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | do not (negative auxiliary). | Misspelling of don't. |
Letter map: don't vs dont
Shared letters muted; letters that set don't and dont apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: don't is averb and dontacontraction. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1924, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
don't is recorded at frequency rank #68, classified as averb, pronounced /dəʊnt/. dont is at rank #1,856, 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 1924, this pair ranks #526,291 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of don't vs dont
Shared letters: dnot. Private to "don't": -. Private to "dont": -.
"don't" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "dont" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- dont ← ddont · dnot · donnt · dontt · dotn · odnt