Which to use
“duo” is a noun and “dus” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,839
- “duo” frequency rank
- #9,817
- “dus” frequency rank
- 13656
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | duo | dus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Morceau de musique fait pour être chanté par deux voix ou exécuté par deux instruments. | Masculin pluriel de dû. |
Where the eye mixes duo and dus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses duo with dus
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: duo is \dɥɔ\ while dus is \dy\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - o in “duo” becomes s in “dus”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13656, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
duo is recorded at frequency rank #3,839, classified as anoun, pronounced \dɥɔ\. dus is at rank #9,817, tagged as anadj, pronounced \dy\.
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 13656, this pair ranks #400,112 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of duo vs dus
Shared letters: du. Private to "duo": o. Private to "dus": s.
"duo" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "dus" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "duo" and "dus" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "duo" or "dus"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "duo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #400,112 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "duo" and "dus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "DCI vs dus". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #400,112 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.