Which to use
“do” is a contraction and “don” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6
- “do” frequency rank
- #4,306
- “don” frequency rank
- 4312
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | do | don |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | contração da preposição de com o artigo definido o | professor universitário (especialmente da Universidade de Oxford ou de Cambridge) |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set do and don apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
do and don form a confusable pair in the Portuguese index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “do” sits inside “don” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4312, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
do is recorded at frequency rank #6, classified as acontraction, pronounced /du/ (/do/, se enfático). don is at rank #4,306, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɒn/ ouvir ^(fonte ?).
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 4312, this pair ranks #70,633 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "do" and "don" be used interchangeably?
Remembering do vs don
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a contraction, it's “do”; for a noun, it's “don”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “do” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable