Which to use
“doca” and “don” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,985
- “doca” frequency rank
- #4,306
- “don” frequency rank
- 28291
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | doca | don |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | parte abrigada de um porto, dispondo de cais acostável, onde se podem recolher embarcações para fugir do mau tempo ou para carregar e descarregar mercadorias | professor universitário (especialmente da Universidade de Oxford ou de Cambridge) |
Where the eye mixes doca and don
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses doca with don
A purely visual mix-up. doca (/ˈdɔ.kɐ/) and don (/dɒn/ ouvir ^(fonte ?)) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28291, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
doca is recorded at frequency rank #23,985, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈdɔ.kɐ/. 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 28291, this pair ranks #40,532 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of doca vs don
Shared letters: do. Private to "doca": ac. Private to "don": n.
"doca" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "don" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- doca ← dcoa · ddoca · doac · docca · odca
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "doca" for "don" ever safe?
Frequency check: "doca" vs "don" - 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 "doca" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "don" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #40,532 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "doca" and "don" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "doca vs doula". 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 #40,532 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.