don't
/dəʊnt/
"don-t" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“don't” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #68. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #68
- frequency rank, English
- 3,470
- “D” headwords
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - do not (negative auxiliary).
Corpus desk
Index EN-don-t · don't · English
don't · rank #68 · 7 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-CORE #68
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 7 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,470
- PHOTO-FINISH how
Nearest frequency peer: how (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Rank peers near misspelling magnet “don't”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- new
new
99,936 corpus weight
- people
people
99,935 corpus weight
- how
how
99,934 corpus weight
- don't
don't
99,933 corpus weight
- some
some
99,932 corpus weight
- also
also
99,931 corpus weight
What this shows “don't” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
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 | don't |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /dəʊnt/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #68 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “don't”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 7 spelling variants around don't (IPA /dəʊnt/), averb. Corpus frequency is #68 among 3,470 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for don't, with forms such as "ddon't", "dno't", and "do'nt". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "dot", "done", "dont", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From do + -n't. Depending on dialect, its use in the third-person singular may be from elision (in these dialects "does" is used when not in the negative) or from not using -s to mark the third-person singular at all. The correct English form is don't, spelled D-O-N-'-T.
Definition
- 1do not (negative auxiliary).
- 2does not.
- 3Used before an emphatic negative subject.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how don't appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Don't you think mom's awfully busy today?
Don't be such a nuisance!
Etymology
From do + -n't. Depending on dialect, its use in the third-person singular may be from elision (in these dialects "does" is used when not in the negative) or from not using -s to mark the third-person singular at all.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ddon't
- dno't
- do'nt
- don'tt
- donn't
- dont'
- odn't
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of don't - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "don't", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).