donkeyvsdonneWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“donkey” and “donne” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#46,114
“donkey” frequency rank
#326
“donne” frequency rank
46440
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature donkey donne
Definition Âne. Action de donner, de distribuer les cartes, dans un jeu de cartes.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set donkey and donne apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
donkey
5 ch
donne

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. donkey (\dɒŋki\) and donne (\dɔn\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46440, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

donkey is recorded at frequency rank #46,114, classified as anoun, pronounced \dɒŋki\. donne is at rank #326, tagged as anoun, pronounced \dɔn\.

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 46440, this pair ranks #194,921 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of donkey vs donne

Shared letters: deno. Private to "donkey": ky. Private to "donne": -.

"donkey" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "donne" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • donkeyddonkey · dnokey · dokney · doneky · donkeyy · donkkey · donkye · donnkey
  • donneddonne · dnone · donen · odnne

Frequency comparison

donkey#46,114
donne#326

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "donkey" and "donne" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\dɒŋki\ versus \dɔn\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "donkey" or "donne"?
"donne" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #326 in our French list, against #46,114 for "donkey". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering donkey vs donne

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “donkey” 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