dont

Dont is most commonly encountered as the contraction of do not in English. It is used to negate verbs in informal and conversational writing, and is written with an apostrophe to indicate the omitted letters (don’t). The standard lowercase form is don't; the capitalized form at the start of a sentence or in titles follows normal capitalization rules. Some typographers distinguish don’t from dont in plain text by using the curved apostrophe don’t, whereas dont (without an apostrophe) is generally considered a misspelling in standard English.

Usage and style notes:

Dont can appear in imperative sentences: Don’t touch that. In questions: Don’t you know? In negative short answers: I don’t. Many style guides reserve don't for informal prose and recommend do not for formal writing, especially in academic or technical contexts. The contraction can convey casual tone, immediacy, or emphasis in dialogue, journalism, and creative writing.

Spelling and typography:

The correct orthography is don't, with an apostrophe replacing the missing o. Some fonts use typographic quotation marks, producing don’t. The form dont (without an apostrophe) is typically considered incorrect in standard English, while DONT in all caps is usually found only in stylized text or headlines.

History:

The contraction arose in Early Modern English as speech patterns condensed in writing. By the 18th century, dont became widely established in print as a conventional negation form, reflecting the broader tendency to contract common auxiliary verbs with not.

Other uses:

Dont may occasionally appear as a surname or place name in certain languages, but in English it is overwhelmingly recognized as a contraction rather than a proper noun. Overall, dont functions as a basic negation tool in English usage.