don't
/dəʊnt/
"don-t" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“don't” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #68 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #68
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - do not (negative auxiliary).
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) |
Where “don't” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for don't is 5 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /dəʊnt/. Corpus data places it at rank #68 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
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.
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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Using “don't”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-O-N-'-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /dəʊnt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “dot” - see the side-by-side comparison. don't vs dot
- 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.