Which to use
“don” and “dona” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,033
- “don” frequency rank
- #15,838
- “dona” frequency rank
- 16871
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | don | dona |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Cosa cualquiera que se da de forma voluntaria y gratuita. | Dádiva, regalo. |
Where the eye mixes don and dona
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between don and dona
A purely visual mix-up. don ([ˈd̪õn]) and dona ([ˈd̪ona]) 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 extra letter(s) - “don” sits inside “dona”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16871, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
don is recorded at frequency rank #1,033, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈd̪õn]. dona is at rank #15,838, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈd̪ona].
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 16871, this pair ranks #274,470 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of don vs dona
Shared letters: dno. Private to "don": -. Private to "dona": a.
"don" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "dona" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- dona ← ddona · dnoa · doan
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "don" for "dona" ever safe?
Frequency check: "don" vs "dona" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "don" and "dona" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "don" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dona" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #274,470 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "don" and "dona" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dona 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 #274,470 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.