Which to use
“done” and “due” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #236
- “done” frequency rank
- #442
- “due” frequency rank
- 678
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | done | due |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Having completed or finished an activity. | Owed or owing. |
Where the eye mixes done and due
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: done vs due
A purely visual mix-up. done (/dʌn/) and due (/djuː/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 678, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
done is recorded at frequency rank #236, classified as anadj, pronounced /dʌn/. due is at rank #442, tagged as anadj, pronounced /djuː/.
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 678, this pair ranks #528,997 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of done vs due
Shared letters: de. Private to "done": no. Private to "due": u.
"done" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "due" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- done ← ddone · dnoe · doen · odne
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "done" for "due" ever safe?
Frequency check: "done" vs "due" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "done" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "due" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #528,997 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "done" and "due" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dox vs due". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #528,997 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.