Which to use
“don” and “dun” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,306
- “don” frequency rank
- #45,320
- “dun” frequency rank
- 49626
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | don | dun |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | professor universitário (especialmente da Universidade de Oxford ou de Cambridge) | penugem imatura em pássaros jovens |
Where the eye mixes don and dun
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses don with dun
A purely visual mix-up. don (/dɒn/ ouvir ^(fonte ?)) and dun (/duːn/, [d̥uːˀn]) 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 a single letter - o in “don” becomes u in “dun”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49626, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
don is recorded at frequency rank #4,306, classified as anoun, pronounced /dɒn/ ouvir ^(fonte ?). 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 49626, this pair ranks #15,363 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of don vs dun
Shared letters: dn. Private to "don": o. Private to "dun": u.
"don" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "dun" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "don" for "dun" ever safe?
Which is more common, "don" or "dun"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "don" 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 #15,363 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "don" and "dun" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dat vs dun". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #15,363 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.