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PlainSpell

do

/dʊ/verb, noun, number

do is spelled D-O: 2 letters and one syllable. It appears 2,239 times per million words in written English, the 52nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “do vs due” about 1,000 times a month (Google, United States). As a verb, do means “A syntactic marker in a question whose main verb is not another auxiliary verb or be” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in do?

Letters2: D-O
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing2,239 times per million words; the 52nd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is do?

Do appears 2,239 times per million words in written English, the 52nd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce do?

  • /də/
  • /dʊ/
  • /duː/

As a noun (“A syllable used in solfège to represent the first and…”): /dəʊ/, /doʊ/.

Do has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-do_(unstressed).ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-do.wav, En-us-do-verb.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with do

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

do vs due1,000 G
do vs doe0 B

Also written: doe.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with do?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as do from its last stressed vowel (/əʊ/, British pronunciation):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of do

  • does present, singular, he/she/it
  • doing participle, present
  • did past, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • done participle, past
  • de
  • dee
  • dos plural
  • do's plural
  • doos plural
  • doh
  • 'dos plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does do mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    A syntactic marker in a question whose main verb is not another auxiliary verb or be.

    Do you go there often?

  2. 2

    A syntactic marker in negations with the indicative and imperative moods.

    I do not go there often.

  3. 3

    A syntactic marker for emphasis with the indicative, imperative, and subjunctive moods.

    But I do go sometimes.

  4. 4

    A syntactic marker that refers back to an earlier verb and allows the speaker to avoid repeating the verb; in most dialects, not used with auxiliaries such as be, though it can be in AAVE.

    I play tennis; she does too.

  5. 5

    informalShould; ought to (especially in respect of a task to be repeated).

    Do I just call every number on the list each time?

  6. 6

    Used to form the present progressive of verbs.

  7. 7

    To perform; to execute.

    If you want something done, do it yourself.

  8. 8

    obsoleteTo cause or make (someone) (do something).

noun

  1. 1

    UKinformalA party, celebration, social function; usually of moderate size and formality.

    We’re having a bit of a do on Saturday to celebrate my birthday.

  2. 2

    informalClipping of hairdo.

    Nice do!

  3. 3

    Something that can or should be done.

    Don’t forget the dos and don’ts.

  4. 4

    obsoleteSomething that has been done.

    "How come you quit?" "I'm moving to London." "Fair dos."

  5. 5

    archaicAdo; bustle; stir; to-do; A period of confusion or argument.

  6. 6

    UKobsoleteslangA cheat; a swindler.

  7. 7

    UKobsoleteslangAn act of swindling; a fraud or deception.

  8. 8

    UKslangA homicide.

  9. 9

    A syllable used in solfège to represent the first and eighth tonic of a major scale.

number

  1. 1

    The cardinal number occurring after el and before do one in a duodecimal system. Written 10, decimal value 12.

noun

as DO
  1. 1

    Initialism of direct object.

  2. 2

    USa Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine

  3. 3

    Initialism of dissolved oxygen.

  4. 4

    Initialism of disto-occlusal.

  5. 5

    Initialism of district officer.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Do in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Germantun (in questions), ja, doch, wohl, schon (for emphasis)
Portuguesesim (for emphasis), fazer, realizar (perform, execute), servir (work, suffice), penteado (hairdo), dó (tonic of the C major scale)
Spanishsí (for emphasis), hacer, conseguir, lograr, atufar (perform, execute), valer (work, suffice)
Frenchfaire (perform, execute), aller (work, suffice), do (tonic of the C major scale), se débrouiller (fare), se faire (slang: have sex with)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does do come from?

From Middle English don, from Old English dōn, from Proto-West Germanic *dōn, from Proto-Germanic *dōną, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put, place, do, make”). For senses 4 and 5, compare Old Norse duga, also Northern English dow. The past tense form is from Middle English didde, dude, from Old English dyde, *diede, an unexpected development from Proto-Germanic *dedǭ/*dedē (the expected reflex would be *ded), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰédʰeh₁ti, an athematic e-reduplicated verb of the same root *dʰeh₁-. The meaningless use of do in interrogative, negative, and affirmative sentences (e.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after do