donevsdowConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#20,986
“done” frequency rank
#29,730
“dow” frequency rank
50716
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature done dow
Definition Demoiselle, jeune dame, parfois opposé à dame. Prospérer.

Letter map: done vs dow

Shared letters muted; letters that set done and dow apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

4 ch
done
3 ch
dow

Grammar separator: done vs dow

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: done is anoun and dowaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50716, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

done is recorded at frequency rank #20,986, classified as anoun. dow is at rank #29,730, tagged as averb, pronounced \daʊ\.

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 50716, this pair ranks #160,512 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of done vs dow

Shared letters: do. Private to "done": en. Private to "dow": w.

"done" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "dow" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • doneddone · dnoe · doen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "done" and "dow" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "done" is a noun and "dow" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "done" or "dow"?
"done" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,986 in our French list, against #29,730 for "dow". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

You've compared "done" and "dow". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "done" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dow" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #160,512 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "done" and "dow" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "DCI vs dow". 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 #160,512 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