doivsdonConfusable pair

Quick tell: doi is a num, don is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“doi” is a num and “don” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#13,272
“doi” frequency rank
#4,306
“don” frequency rank
17578
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature doi don
Definition dois; representado pelo algarismo hindu-arábico 2 professor universitário (especialmente da Universidade de Oxford ou de Cambridge)

Where the eye mixes doi and don

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
doi
3 ch
don

Visual trap between doi and don

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: doi is /doj/ while don is /dɒn/ ouvir ^(fonte ?). Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - i in “doi” becomes n in “don”, and the parts of speech differ too (num vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17578, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

doi is recorded at frequency rank #13,272, classified as anum, pronounced /doj/. 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 17578, this pair ranks #53,638 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of doi vs don

Shared letters: do. Private to "doi": i. Private to "don": n.

"doi" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "don" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "doi" and "don" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "doi" is a num and "don" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "doi" or "don" show up more?
"don" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,306 in our Portuguese list, against #13,272 for "doi". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "doi" 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 #53,638 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "doi" and "don" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dat vs doi". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #53,638 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list