duevsduoConfusable pair

Quick tell: due is a adjective, duo is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“due” is an adjective and “duo” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#24,954
“due” frequency rank
#15,317
“duo” frequency rank
40271
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature due duo
Definition devido grupo de duas pessoas que atuam conjuntamente

Where the eye mixes due and duo

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

3 ch
due
3 ch
duo

Why the eye confuses due with duo

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: due is /dju/ while duo is [du.o], Plural: [du.os]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “due” becomes o in “duo”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40271, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

due is recorded at frequency rank #24,954, classified as anadj, pronounced /dju/. duo is at rank #15,317, tagged as anoun, pronounced [du.o], Plural: [du.os].

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 40271, this pair ranks #25,870 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of due vs duo

Shared letters: du. Private to "due": e. Private to "duo": o.

"due" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "duo" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "due" and "duo" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "due" is an adjective and "duo" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "due" or "duo"?
"duo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,317 in our Portuguese list, against #24,954 for "due". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "due" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "duo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #25,870 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "due" and "duo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dat vs due". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #25,870 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