donavsdourWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: dona is a noun, dour is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“dona” is a noun and “dour” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#35,903
“dona” frequency rank
#44,426
“dour” frequency rank
80329
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dona dour
Definition Sainte. Austère, dur, inhospitalier.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dona and dour apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
dona
4 ch
dour

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: dona is anoun and douranadjective. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80329, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dona is recorded at frequency rank #35,903, classified as anoun. dour is at rank #44,426, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ˈdʊə(ɹ)\.

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 80329, this pair ranks #21,217 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of dona vs dour

Shared letters: do. Private to "dona": an. Private to "dour": ru.

"dona" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "dour" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • donaddona · dnoa · doan · odna
  • dourddour · doru · dourr · duor · odur

Frequency comparison

dona#35,903
dour#44,426

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dona" and "dour" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dona" is a noun and "dour" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "dona" or "dour"?
"dona" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,903 in our French list, against #44,426 for "dour". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dona vs dour

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “dona”; for an adjective, it's “dour”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dona” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list