deglivsdéniWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#42,274
“degli” frequency rank
#11,206
“déni” frequency rank
53480
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature degli déni
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. Action de dénier un fait.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set degli and déni apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
degli
4 ch
déni

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: degli is \ˈdeʎ.ʎi\ while déni is \de.ni\. 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 (article vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53480, 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\. déni is at rank #11,206, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.ni\.

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 53480, this pair ranks #140,432 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of degli vs déni

Shared letters: di. Private to "degli": egl. Private to "déni": .

"degli" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "déni" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

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

Frequency comparison

degli#42,274
déni#11,206

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "degli" and "déni" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "degli" is an article and "déni" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "degli" or "déni"?
"déni" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,206 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 déni

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 “déni”.
  • 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