deglivsdegréWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: degli is a article, degré is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“degli” is an article and “degré” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#42,274
“degli” frequency rank
#2,871
“degré” frequency rank
45145
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature degli degré
Definition Article contracté souvent traduit par des. Note d’usage : il s’emploie alternativement à dei devant les consonnes impures : s, gn, pn, ps, x, z. Espace compris entre deux marches d’un escalier.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set degli and degré apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
degli
5 ch
degré

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: degli is \ˈdeʎ.ʎi\ while degré is \də.ɡʁe\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (article vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45145, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

degli is recorded at frequency rank #42,274, classified as anarticle, pronounced \ˈdeʎ.ʎi\. degré is at rank #2,871, tagged as anoun, pronounced \də.ɡʁe\.

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 45145, this pair ranks #205,047 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of degli vs degré

Shared letters: deg. Private to "degli": il. Private to "degré": .

"degli" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "degré" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • degliddegli · deggli · degil · deglli · delgi · dgeli · edgli

Frequency comparison

degli#42,274
degré#2,871

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "degli" and "degré" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "degli" is an article and "degré" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "degli" or "degré"?
"degré" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,871 in our French list, against #42,274 for "degli". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering degli vs degré

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an article, it's “degli”; for a noun, it's “degré”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “degli” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list