DvsdeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: D is a symbol, de is a preposition, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“D” is a symbol and “de” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#11
“D” frequency rank
#1
“de” frequency rank
12
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature D de
Definition Symbole du préfixe déca-, signifiant 10¹, d est désormais d'usage. Marque un ablatif. Mot indiquant la provenance, l’origine ^([note 1]).

Letter map: D vs de

Shared letters muted; letters that set D and de apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

1 ch
D
2 ch
de

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: D is asymbol and deapreposition. On the page they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “D” sits inside “de”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

D is recorded at frequency rank #11, classified as asymbol. de is at rank #1, tagged as aprep, pronounced \də\.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 12, this pair ranks #440,164 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of D vs de

Shared letters: d. Private to "D": -. Private to "de": e.

"D" · 1 letters · shape C  ·  "de" · 2 letters · shape CV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "D" and "de" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "D" is a symbol and "de" a preposition, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "D" or "de"?
"de" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1 in our French list, against #11 for "D". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list