docuvsdoisConfusable pair

Quick tell: docu is a noun, dois is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“docu” is a noun and “dois” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#28,920
“docu” frequency rank
#707
“dois” frequency rank
29627
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature docu dois
Definition Documentaire. Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de devoir.

Where the eye mixes docu and dois

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
docu
4 ch
dois

Visual trap between docu and dois

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: docu is \dɔ.ky\ while dois is \dwa\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29627, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

docu is recorded at frequency rank #28,920, classified as anoun, pronounced \dɔ.ky\. dois is at rank #707, tagged as averb, pronounced \dwa\.

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 29627, this pair ranks #315,489 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of docu vs dois

Shared letters: do. Private to "docu": cu. Private to "dois": is.

"docu" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "dois" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • docudcou · ddocu · doccu · douc · odcu
  • doisddois · doiss · dosi · odis

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "docu" and "dois" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "docu" is a noun and "dois" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "docu" or "dois"?
"dois" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #707 in our French list, against #28,920 for "docu". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "docu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dois" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #315,489 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "docu" and "dois" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "DCI vs docu". 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 #315,489 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list