Which to use
“dee” is a noun and “des” is an article - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,802
- “dee” frequency rank
- #10
- “des” frequency rank
- 19812
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dee | des |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | D, d (lettre de l’alphabet latin). | Article indéfini du pluriel. C’est ainsi le pluriel de un ou une. |
Where the eye mixes dee and des
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: dee vs des
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dee is \ˈdi\ while des is \de\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “dee” becomes s in “des”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs article), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19812, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dee is recorded at frequency rank #19,802, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈdi\. des is at rank #10, tagged as anarticle, pronounced \de\.
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 19812, this pair ranks #371,423 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of dee vs des
Shared letters: de. Private to "dee": -. Private to "des": s.
"dee" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "des" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dee" for "des" ever safe?
Frequency check: "dee" vs "des" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "dee" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "des" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #371,423 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dee" and "des" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dèche vs dee". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #371,423 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.