Français homophones

du/due/dues/dus/dy

"du" is an article; "due" is an adjective - grammar picks the spelling, not sound. Size rank #101 of 9,139 French groups.

Data vintage 2026-05-06

Grammar picks the spelling

Same sound, different grammar: "du" arrives as an article, while "due" is an adjective. Once the sentence role is fixed, only one spelling fits.

Spelling pairs in this cluster

Shared stem "du" then splits - "du" (2 letters) vs "due" (3).
Shared stem "du" then splits - "du" (2 letters) vs "dues" (4).
Shared stem "du" then splits - "du" (2 letters) vs "dus" (3).
Single-letter fork: "du" keeps u, "dy" writes y at letter 2.
Shared stem "due" then splits - "due" (3 letters) vs "dues" (4).
Single-letter fork: "due" keeps e, "dus" writes s at letter 3.
No shared spelling stem: "due" is 3 letters, "dy" is 2; only the sound ties them.
Shared stem "du" then splits - "dues" (4 letters) vs "dus" (3).
No shared spelling stem: "dues" is 4 letters, "dy" is 2; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "dus" is 3 letters, "dy" is 2; only the sound ties them.

Orthographic DNA of this cluster

Shared letters across du, due, dues, dus, dy: d. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.

du
2 letters · 1 vowels · shape CV
Inventory du · private u
due
3 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVV
Inventory deu · private eu
dues
4 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVVC
Inventory desu · private esu
dus
3 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVC
Inventory dsu · private su
dy
2 letters · 1 vowels · shape CV
Inventory dy · private y

Pick the spelling from the meaning

Write "du" when you mean: Une quantité indéfinie de. Note d’usage : Utilisé avec un nom indénombrable.
Write "due" when you mean: Féminin singulier de dû.
Write "dues" when you mean: Féminin pluriel de dû.
Write "dus" when you mean: Masculin pluriel de dû.
Write "dy" when you mean: Deux.

Known mistypes of these spellings

Edit-distance variants recorded against this cluster: useful when a search or OCR feed lands on the wrong form.

dues ← ddues · duess · duse · udes

Each spelling

article · /\dy\/ · #17 frequency

Une quantité indéfinie de. Note d’usage : Utilisé avec un nom indénombrable.

due

adjective · /\dy\/ · #3,838 frequency

Féminin singulier de dû.

dues

adjective · /\dy\/ · #8,532 frequency

Féminin pluriel de dû.

dus

adjective · /\dy\/ · #9,817 frequency

Masculin pluriel de dû.

adjective · /\dy\/ · #45,564 frequency

Deux.