Which to use
“de” is a preposition and “DSM” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1
- “de” frequency rank
- #37,767
- “DSM” frequency rank
- 37768
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | de | DSM |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Marque un ablatif. Mot indiquant la provenance, l’origine ^([note 1]). | Manuel classifiant les troubles mentaux, pour un usage statistique, expérimental, de diagnostic ou d’expertise médico-légale. |
Where the eye mixes de and DSM
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: de vs DSM
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: de is \də\ while DSM is \de.ɛs.ɛm\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37768, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
de is recorded at frequency rank #1, classified as aprep, pronounced \də\. DSM is at rank #37,767, tagged as aname, pronounced \de.ɛs.ɛm\.
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 37768, this pair ranks #260,065 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of de vs DSM
Shared letters: d. Private to "de": e. Private to "DSM": ms.
"de" · 2 letters · shape CV · "DSM" · 3 letters · shape CCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "de" and "DSM" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "de" or "DSM" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "de" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "DSM" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #260,065 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "de" and "DSM" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "DCI vs DSM". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #260,065 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.