dunvsduroWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: dun is a noun, duro is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#45,320
“dun” frequency rank
#3,070
“duro” frequency rank
48390
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dun duro
Definition penugem imatura em pássaros jovens difícil de quebrar ou de desfazer

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dun and duro apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
dun
4 ch
duro

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: dun is anoun and duroanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48390, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dun is recorded at frequency rank #45,320, classified as anoun, pronounced /duːn/, [d̥uːˀn]. duro is at rank #3,070, tagged as anadj.

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 48390, this pair ranks #16,784 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of dun vs duro

Shared letters: du. Private to "dun": n. Private to "duro": or.

"dun" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "duro" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • durodduro · druo · duor · durro · udro

Frequency comparison

dun#45,320
duro#3,070

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dun" and "duro" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dun" is a noun and "duro" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "dun" or "duro"?
"duro" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,070 in our Portuguese list, against #45,320 for "dun". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering dun vs duro

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “dun”; for an adjective, it's “duro”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dun” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list