Which to use
“due” and “dur” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,838
- “due” frequency rank
- #940
- “dur” frequency rank
- 4778
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | due | dur |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de dû. | Ferme ; difficile à pénétrer ou à entamer. |
Where the eye mixes due and dur
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses due with dur
A purely visual mix-up. due (\dy\) and dur (\dyʁ\) 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 a single letter - e in “due” becomes r in “dur”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4778, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
due is recorded at frequency rank #3,838, classified as anadj, pronounced \dy\. dur is at rank #940, tagged as anadj, pronounced \dyʁ\.
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 4778, this pair ranks #430,725 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of due vs dur
Shared letters: du. Private to "due": e. Private to "dur": r.
"due" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "dur" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "due" and "dur" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "due" or "dur"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "due" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dur" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #430,725 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "due" and "dur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "DCI vs due". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #430,725 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.