doesvsdueWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: does is a verb, due is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“does” is a verb and “due” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,750
“does” frequency rank
#27,578
“due” frequency rank
59328
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature does due
Definition Tercera persona del singular (he, she, it) del presente simple del verbo (to) do. En segundo puesto.

Where the eye mixes does and due

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
does
3 ch
due

Visual trap between does and due

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: does is /ˈdʌz/ while due is [ˈdu.e]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59328, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

does is recorded at frequency rank #31,750, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈdʌz/. due is at rank #27,578, tagged as anadv, pronounced [ˈdu.e].

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 59328, this pair ranks #63,018 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of does vs due

Shared letters: de. Private to "does": os. Private to "due": u.

"does" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "due" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • doesddoes · deos · doess · odes

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "does" and "due" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "does" is a verb and "due" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "does" or "due"?
"due" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,578 in our Spanish list, against #31,750 for "does". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "does" 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 #63,018 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "does" and "due" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "does vs dont". 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 #63,018 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list