does
/dəz/
"does" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“does” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #177 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #177
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 4
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - third-person singular simple present indicative of do
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | does |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /dəz/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #177 |
| Misspellings tracked | 4 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “does” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for does is 4 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /dəz/. Corpus data places it at rank #177 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "third-person singular simple present indicative of do".
Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for does, with forms such as "ddoes", "deos", and "doess". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "DS", "due", "dog", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English dos, variant of doth, doþ, equivalent to do + -s. For the shortened vowel compare says. The correct English form is does, spelled D-O-E-S.
Definition
- 1third-person singular simple present indicative of do
Etymology
From Middle English dos, variant of doth, doþ, equivalent to do + -s. For the shortened vowel compare says.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ddoes,deos,doess,odes
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of does - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “does”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-O-E-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /dəz/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “DS” - see the side-by-side comparison. does vs DS
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.