duevsduqueTell them apart

Quick tell: due is a adverb, duque is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#27,578
“due” frequency rank
#3,548
“duque” frequency rank
31126
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature due duque
Definition En segundo puesto. Título nobiliario de mayor dignidad, entre la nobleza europea.

Where the eye mixes due and duque

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

3 ch
due
5 ch
duque

Visual trap between due and duque

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: due is [ˈdu.e] while duque is [ˈd̪uke]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31126, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

due is recorded at frequency rank #27,578, classified as anadv, pronounced [ˈdu.e]. duque is at rank #3,548, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈd̪uke].

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 31126, this pair ranks #208,647 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of due vs duque

Shared letters: deu. Private to "due": -. Private to "duque": q.

"due" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "duque" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • duquedduque · dquue · duqeu · duqque · duuqe · udque

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "due" for "duque" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "due" is an adverb and "duque" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "due" or "duque" show up more?
"duque" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,548 in our Spanish list, against #27,578 for "due". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "due" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "duque" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #208,647 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "due" and "duque" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deux vs due". 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 #208,647 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