Which to use
“duda” and “duty” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #656
- “duda” frequency rank
- #25,611
- “duty” frequency rank
- 26267
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | duda | duty |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Acción o efecto de dudar. Dificultad para elegir entre dos o más opciones, o suspensión de tal decisión. | Deber, obligación. |
Where the eye mixes duda and duty
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between duda and duty
A purely visual mix-up. duda ([ˈd̪uð̞a]) and duty (/ˈdjuː.ti/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26267, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
duda is recorded at frequency rank #656, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈd̪uð̞a]. duty is at rank #25,611, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈdjuː.ti/.
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 26267, this pair ranks #232,484 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of duda vs duty
Shared letters: du. Private to "duda": a. Private to "duty": ty.
"duda" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "duty" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "duda" for "duty" ever safe?
Frequency check: "duda" vs "duty" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "duda" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "duty" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #232,484 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "duda" and "duty" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dirty vs duty". 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 #232,484 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.