Which to use
“dont” is a pronoun and “doute” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #119
- “dont” frequency rank
- #489
- “doute” frequency rank
- 608
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dont | doute |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | De qui ; de quoi ; duquel ; de laquelle ; desquels , desquelles. | Incertitude sur l’existence ou la vérité d’une chose, sur l'exactitude ou la fausseté d’une idée, d’une affirmation. |
Where the eye mixes dont and doute
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between dont and doute
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dont is \dɔ̃\ while doute is \dut\. 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 (pronoun vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 608, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dont is recorded at frequency rank #119, classified as apron, pronounced \dɔ̃\. doute is at rank #489, tagged as anoun, pronounced \dut\.
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 608, this pair ranks #439,397 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of dont vs doute
Shared letters: dot. Private to "dont": n. Private to "doute": eu.
"dont" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "doute" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dont" for "doute" ever safe?
Frequency check: "dont" vs "doute" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "dont" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "doute" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #439,397 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dont" and "doute" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dont vs dotant". 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 #439,397 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.