Which to use
“dép” is a noun and “des” is an article - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #41,754
- “dép” frequency rank
- #10
- “des” frequency rank
- 41764
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dép | des |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dépanneur. | Article indéfini du pluriel. C’est ainsi le pluriel de un ou une. |
Where the eye mixes dép and des
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. dép and des follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between dép and des
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dép is \dɛp\ while des is \de\. 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 (noun vs article), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41764, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dép is recorded at frequency rank #41,754, classified as anoun, pronounced \dɛp\. 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 41764, this pair ranks #230,675 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dép vs des
Shared letters: d. Private to "dép": pé. Private to "des": es.
"dép" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "des" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dép" and "des" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "dép" or "des" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "dép" 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 #230,675 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dép" and "des" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "DCI vs dép". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #230,675 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.