donner la main
\dɔ.ne la mɛ̃\
The verdict
“donner la main” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 14
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Prendre la main de quelqu’un dans la sienne.
Corpus desk
Index FR-donner-la-main · donner la main · French
donner la main · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 14 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "D" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | donner la main |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | \dɔ.ne la mɛ̃\ |
| Letters | 14 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « donner la main » en français
Rare enough to double-check
donner la main is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed \dɔ.ne la mɛ̃\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for donner la main, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is donner la main, spelled D-O-N-N-E-R- -L-A- -M-A-I-N.
Definition
- 1Prendre la main de quelqu’un dans la sienne.
- 2Céder à son adversaire l’avantage de jouer le premier.
- 3Donner un coup de main ; aider.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how donner la main appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Les deux hommes s’étaient assis face à face, à l’extérieur de la masure où vivait la famille de Chaddi. Les enfants restèrent à l’écart. Morange remarqua qu’ils se donnaient la main, comme pour s’encourager mutuellement.
L’Allemand apparaît au moment où deux matelots manœuvrent les ballons d’accostage. Ils lui donnent la main, et l’aident à sauter à bord…
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.