degrés vs désires, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“degrés” is a noun and “désires” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,192
“degrés” frequency rank: #37,301
“désires” frequency rank: 40493
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	degrés	désires
Definition	Pluriel de degré.	Deuxième personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de désirer.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch

degrés

7 ch

désires

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: degrés is \də.ɡʁe\ while désires is \de.ziʁ\. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40493, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

degrés is recorded at frequency rank #3,192, classified as anoun, pronounced \də.ɡʁe\. désires is at rank #37,301, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.ziʁ\.

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 40493, this pair ranks #240,082 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of degrés vs désires

Shared letters: dersé. Private to "degrés": g. Private to "désires": i.

"degrés" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "désires" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Frequency comparison

degrés#3,192

désires#37,301

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "degrés" and "désires" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "degrés" is a noun and "désires" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "degrés" or "désires"?

"degrés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,192 in our French list, against #37,301 for "désires". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering degrés vs désires

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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