Answer: the difference between dew, due and do

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Welcome to today's post on the difference between dew, due, and do; three words which sound just the same - except when they don't. This post's fannish examples are from Maiden Rose.



As you maybe guessed from the opening paragraph, do, dew and due are generally exactly the same in American pronunciation, but there are some differences if you come from the United Kingdom and some of its former colonies such as New Zealand. These two Youtube videos give you the run-down.

How to pronounce due.

How to pronounce dew.

The pronunciation of do is more consistent throughout the English speaking world.

All of today's definitions come from my New Zealand Oxford Dictionary.

Dew
As a noun:
1. atmospheric vapour condensing in small drops on cool surfaces at night
2. beaded or glistening moisture resembling this, e.g. tears
3. freshness, refreshing quality

As a transitive verb:
wet with or as with dew

Its origin is from Old English and Germanic.

Klaus still dreamed sometimes of that one perfect rose, wet with early morning dew and gently enclosed in his cupped hands.

Due can perform as an adjective, a noun or an adverb.

1. owing or payable as a debt or an obligation
2. merited, appropriate, fitting
3. rightful, proper, adequate
4. ascribed to
5. intended to arrive a certain time
6. under an obligation or agreement to do something
7. a person's right; what is owed to a person
8. what one owes (to pay your dues)
9. exactly, directly (of the point of a compass, for example, due south)

The word comes to us from the Old French deu and can be traced from there to Latin origins.

Hasebe grew increasingly irritated by von Wolfstadt's careless ways and lack of due deference towards both Taki Reizen and the functionaries of his household.

Intelligence had come of an attack due soon on the northern border, and everyone waited in a state of nervous anticipation.

Suguri was a competent doctor and soon realised that Klaus's reaction to the drugs adminstered to him must be due to previous abuse.

Do is a word that, well, is expected to do rather a lot of work in English. As a result, I'm not planning on reproducing my entire dictionary entry on the word. Let's stick with some representative examples:

1. perform, carry out, achieve, complete
2. produce, make
3. bestow, grant; have a specified effect on
4. act, behave, proceed
5. work at, study; be occupied with

Do, as a verb, is that ultimate doing word that we were taught about in English class at school.

Faced with the increasing disaster that was his relationship with Klaus, Taki realised that he had no idea what to do.

As mentioned earlier in this post, where I come from there are definite differences in how people pronounce do and due. As a result, until reminded by fellow grammarians, I'd forgotten about one annoyance to fans of correct English usage - the expression make due being used instead of make do. To make do is to perform, carry out or achieve, to refer back to our earlier definition, with what you have on hand even if what you have on hand isn't ideal for its intended purpose. Make due is just straight out wrong, unless you're looking to make a pun on managing your obligations in some way.

What to do to remember the differences between these words? Dew might be easiest. Spelled backwards it's 'wed' which is pretty close to 'wet' and its associated dewy connections. Do is a verb that shares the letter 'o' with its other forms, such as does and don't. Hopefully this post will make it easier for you to give correct English usage its due.