doivsdunConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#13,272
“doi” frequency rank
#45,320
“dun” frequency rank
58592
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature doi dun
Definition dois; representado pelo algarismo hindu-arábico 2 penugem imatura em pássaros jovens

Where the eye mixes doi and dun

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
doi
3 ch
dun

Visual trap between doi and dun

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: doi is /doj/ while dun is /duːn/, [d̥uːˀn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (num vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58592, 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/. dun is at rank #45,320, tagged as anoun, pronounced /duːn/, [d̥uːˀn].

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 58592, this pair ranks #8,657 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of doi vs dun

Shared letters: d. Private to "doi": io. Private to "dun": nu.

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "doi" and "dun" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "doi" is a num and "dun" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "doi" or "dun"?
"doi" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,272 in our Portuguese list, against #45,320 for "dun". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "doi" and "dun" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "doi" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dun" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #8,657 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "doi" and "dun" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dat vs dun". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #8,657 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