Which to use
“dans” is a preposition and “dun” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20
- “dans” frequency rank
- #16,344
- “dun” frequency rank
- 16364
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dans | dun |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Préposition de lieu qui marque le rapport d’une personne ou d’une chose à ce qui la contient. Introduit un complément circonstanciel de lieu. | Marron grisâtre #DAC8AE. |
Where the eye mixes dans and dun
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses dans with dun
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dans is \dɑ̃\ while dun is \dʌn\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16364, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dans is recorded at frequency rank #20, classified as aprep, pronounced \dɑ̃\. dun is at rank #16,344, tagged as anadj, pronounced \dʌn\.
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 16364, this pair ranks #388,155 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of dans vs dun
Shared letters: dn. Private to "dans": as. Private to "dun": u.
"dans" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "dun" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- dans ← adns · danns · danss · dasn · ddans · dnas
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dans" and "dun" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "dans" vs "dun" - 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 "dans" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dun" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #388,155 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dans" and "dun" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "drunk vs dun". 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 #388,155 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.