deglivsdeiWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#42,274
“degli” frequency rank
#13,767
“dei” frequency rank
56041
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature degli dei
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. Appel, convocation.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
degli
3 ch
dei

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: degli is anarticle and deianoun. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56041, 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\. dei is at rank #13,767, tagged as anoun.

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 56041, this pair ranks #123,617 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of degli vs dei

Shared letters: dei. Private to "degli": gl. Private to "dei": -.

"degli" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "dei" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Known mistypes of this pair

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

Frequency comparison

degli#42,274
dei#13,767

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "degli" and "dei" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "degli" is an article and "dei" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "degli" or "dei"?
"dei" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,767 in our French list, against #42,274 for "degli". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering degli vs dei

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 “dei”.
  • 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list