donanvsdonoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#41,873
“donan” frequency rank
#41,874
“dono” frequency rank
83747
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature donan dono
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de donar. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de donar.

Where the eye mixes donan and dono

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

5 ch
donan
4 ch
dono

Why the eye confuses donan with dono

A purely visual mix-up. donan ([ˈd̪onãn]) and dono ([ˈd̪ono]) 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 83747, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

donan is recorded at frequency rank #41,873, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪onãn]. dono is at rank #41,874, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪ono].

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 83747, this pair ranks #7,777 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of donan vs dono

Shared letters: dno. Private to "donan": a. Private to "dono": -.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • donan ← ddonan · dnoan · doann · donann · donnan · odnan
  • dono ← ddono · dnoo · donno · doon · odno

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "donan" for "dono" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈd̪onãn] versus [ˈd̪ono]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "donan" vs "dono" - which ranks higher?
"donan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #41,873 in our Spanish list, against #41,874 for "dono". 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 "donan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dono" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #7,777 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "donan" and "dono" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dono 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 #7,777 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