des

\de\

/\de\/ article

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“des” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #10) as an article. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#10
frequency rank, French
5,307
“D” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - Article indéfini du pluriel. C’est ainsi le pluriel de un ou une.

Corpus desk

Index FR-des · des · French

des · rank #10 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #10
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,307
  • PHOTO-FINISH en

Nearest frequency peer: en (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “des”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “des” sits against the nearest ranked French headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 2, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

des vs du
33% similar
des vs dr
33% similar
des vs di
33% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for des
PropertyValue
Headworddes
LanguageFrench
Part of speechArticle
IPA\de\
Letters3
Frequency rank#10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “des” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). des lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for des is neighbouring look-alikes ("du", "dr", …), not just typos; it is anarticle pronounced \de\. Frequency #10 among 5,307 “D” headwords. Gloss: "Article indéfini du pluriel. C’est ainsi le pluriel de un ou une.".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for des, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "du", "dr", "di", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is des, spelled D-E-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Article indéfini du pluriel. C’est ainsi le pluriel de un ou une.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how des appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Afin de démonopoliser, de désexpertiser le droit, l’enseignement doit être donné par les éducateurs réguliers et non pas par des policiers ou des juristes comme l’on tend à le pratiquer car, en premier lieu ceux-ci ne possèdent aucune formation pédagogique et d’autre part l’entraînement du policier est basé avant tout sur la répression : les échecs répété…

This word in other languages

unos(Español)uns(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "des"?
"des" is spelled D-E-S. The IPA pronunciation is \de\.
What does "des" mean?
As an article, "des" means: Article indéfini du pluriel. C’est ainsi le pluriel de un ou une.
What words are commonly confused with "des"?
"des" is commonly confused with "du", "dr", "di". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "des"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "des" is \de\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "des" come from?
"des" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "des", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Est#8les#7que#13pas#15
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list