VocabularyBasePractice words

Meaning & use

dunnit

phrase, noun·AdvancedinformalBritish

Last updated

UK/ˈdʌnɪt/
US/ˈdʌnɪt/

Meanings

  1. phrasefixed phraseinformalBritish

    A casual spoken form of 'doesn't it', used as a short question tag at the end of a statement.

    Grammar: Comes after a positive statement, like a tag question: 'Looks nice, dunnit?' Do not use it in careful written English.

    Patterns

    • statement + dunnit?
    • ... , dunnit?

    Cold today, dunnit?

    That new cafe looks smart, dunnit?

    He plays well, dunnit?

  2. phrasefixed phraseinformal

    A casual spoken form of 'done it', meaning someone has completed something or is responsible for it.

    Grammar: Used after a subject to mean 'has done it' or 'did it'; common in relaxed conversation and in the fixed phrase 'who dunnit'.

    Patterns

    • someone dunnit
    • who dunnit?
    • who dunnit

    Don't blame me, I never dunnit.

    The window's broken and nobody knows who dunnit.

    She reckons her little brother dunnit.

  3. nouncountableinformal

    An informal name for a detective story or film in which the reader tries to work out who committed a crime.

    Grammar: Usually written as two words, 'whodunnit', and used with 'a' or 'the'; the plural is 'whodunnits'.

    Patterns

    • a whodunnit
    • read a whodunnit
    • the classic whodunnit

    We watched an old whodunnit on TV last night.

    Her new novel is a clever whodunnit set on a train.

    He loves curling up with a good whodunnit.

Common combinations

who dunnit
The whole office is asking who dunnit after the cake disappeared.
a real whodunnit
The missing keys turned into a real whodunnit.
classic whodunnit
It's a classic whodunnit with a twist at the end.
nice day, dunnit?
Nice day, dunnit? Let's walk to the shops.
someone dunnit
The gate's open, so someone dunnit.

Synonyms and how they differ

doesn't it
The full, standard form of the tag; use it in writing and careful speech, where 'dunnit' would sound too casual.
done it
The full form of the past-participle meaning; 'dunnit' only works in relaxed spoken English.
whodunnit
The usual spelling for the detective-story noun; choose this spelling in writing rather than 'dunnit'.

Word family

done verb
The past participle of 'do', which 'dunnit' shortens in casual speech.
doesn't verb
The full negative form of 'does', which the tag 'dunnit' stands for.

Commonly confused: dunnit or donnit? dunnit or dun it?

dunnit vs donnit

Not a real English word; learners sometimes write this by mistake, but the spoken form is spelled 'dunnit'.

dunnit vs dun it

A misspelling of the same sound; if you want the standard words, write 'done it'.

Practice

Which sentence uses 'dunnit' in the most natural way?

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “dunnit”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Your sentence stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.

Explore more words