domavsdonanConfusable pair

Which to use

“doma” and “donan” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#43,533
“doma” frequency rank
#41,873
“donan” frequency rank
85406
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature doma donan
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de domar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de donar.

Where the eye mixes doma and donan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. doma runs 4 letters (CVCV) against donan's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
doma
5 ch
donan

Why the eye confuses doma with donan

A purely visual mix-up. doma ([ˈd̪oma]) and donan ([ˈd̪onãn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 85406, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

doma is recorded at frequency rank #43,533, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪oma]. donan is at rank #41,873, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪onãn].

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 85406, this pair ranks #6,159 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of doma vs donan

Shared letters: ado. Private to "doma": m. Private to "donan": n.

"doma" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "donan" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • doma ← ddoma · dmoa · doam · domma · odma
  • donan ← ddonan · dnoan · doann · donann · donnan · odnan

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "doma" for "donan" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈd̪oma] versus [ˈd̪onãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "doma" or "donan"?
"donan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #41,873 in our Spanish list, against #43,533 for "doma". 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 "doma" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "donan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #6,159 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "doma" and "donan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "doma 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 #6,159 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