Which to use
“deg” is a noun and “des” is an article - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #34,974
- “deg” frequency rank
- #10
- “des” frequency rank
- 34984
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | deg | des |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pâte — Préparation culinaire à base de farine. | Article indéfini du pluriel. C’est ainsi le pluriel de un ou une. |
Where the eye mixes deg and des
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses deg with des
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: deg is \deːɡ\ while des is \de\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - g in “deg” 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 34984, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
deg is recorded at frequency rank #34,974, classified as anoun, pronounced \deːɡ\. 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 34984, this pair ranks #280,001 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of deg vs des
Shared letters: de. Private to "deg": g. Private to "des": s.
"deg" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "des" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "deg" for "des" ever safe?
Frequency check: "deg" vs "des" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "deg" and "des" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "deg" 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 #280,001 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "deg" and "des" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "DCI vs deg". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #280,001 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.