Which to use
“dire” and “done” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #27,835
- “dire” frequency rank
- #23,299
- “done” frequency rank
- 51134
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dire | done |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | dizer, falar | particípio do verbo do |
Where the eye mixes dire and done
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses dire with done
A purely visual mix-up. dire (/diʁ/) and done (/dʌn/; /dɐn/; /dʊn/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51134, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dire is recorded at frequency rank #27,835, classified as averb, pronounced /diʁ/. done is at rank #23,299, tagged as averb, pronounced /dʌn/; /dɐn/; /dʊn/.
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 51134, this pair ranks #13,863 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of dire vs done
Shared letters: de. Private to "dire": ir. Private to "done": no.
"dire" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "done" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "dire" and "done" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "dire" vs "done" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "dire" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "done" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #13,863 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dire" and "done" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dink vs dire". 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 #13,863 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.