Which to use
“dou” is a noun and “dz” is a character - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #22,238
- “dou” frequency rank
- #47,847
- “dz” frequency rank
- 70085
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dou | dz |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Forme mutée de tou par adoucissement (t → d). | Lettre de l’alphabet hongrois entre le d et le dzs, utilisée pour \dz\. |
Where the eye mixes dou and dz
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. dou runs 3 letters (CVV) against dz's 2 (CC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: dou vs dz
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dou is \ˈdu:\ while dz is \dzeː\. 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 (noun vs character), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70085, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dou is recorded at frequency rank #22,238, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈdu:\. dz is at rank #47,847, tagged as acharacter, pronounced \dzeː\.
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 70085, this pair ranks #52,700 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of dou vs dz
Shared letters: d. Private to "dou": ou. Private to "dz": z.
"dou" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "dz" · 2 letters · shape CC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dou" for "dz" ever safe?
Which is more common, "dou" or "dz"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "dou" and "dz" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "dou" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #52,700 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dou" and "dz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "DCI vs dz". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #52,700 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.