des vs diez, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#10
“des” frequency rank: #48,450
“diez” frequency rank: 48460
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	des	diez
Definition	Article indéfini du pluriel. C’est ainsi le pluriel de un ou une.	Forme mutée de tiez par adoucissement (t → d).

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch

des

4 ch

diez

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: des is \de\ while diez is \ˈdiːɛs\. 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 48460, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

des is recorded at frequency rank #10, classified as anarticle, pronounced \de\. diez is at rank #48,450, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈdiːɛs\.

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 48460, this pair ranks #178,740 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of des vs diez

Shared letters: de. Private to "des": s. Private to "diez": iz.

"des" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "diez" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

diez ← ddiez · deiz · diezz · dize · idez

Frequency comparison

des#10

diez#48,450

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "des" and "diez" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "des" is an article and "diez" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "des" or "diez"?

"des" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10 in our French list, against #48,450 for "diez". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering des vs diez

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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