Which to use
“désespérées” is an adjective and “désespérer” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #41,253
- “désespérées” frequency rank
- #28,145
- “désespérer” frequency rank
- 69398
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | désespérées | désespérer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin pluriel de désespéré. | Perdre l’espoir de quelque chose. |
Same sound, different letters: désespérées vs désespérer
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 9 letters.
Ear matches; page differs - désespérées and désespérer
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: désespérées and désespérer carry the same recorded pronunciation, \de.zɛs.pe.ʁe\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69398, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
désespérées is recorded at frequency rank #41,253, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.zɛs.pe.ʁe\. désespérer is at rank #28,145, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.zɛs.pe.ʁe\.
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 69398, this pair ranks #55,269 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of désespérées vs désespérer
Shared letters: deprsé. Private to "désespérées": -. Private to "désespérer": -.
"désespérées" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVVC · "désespérer" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "désespérées" for "désespérer" ever safe?
Which is more common, "désespérées" or "désespérer"?
Useful next steps
"désespérées" and "désespérer" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "désespérées" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "désespérer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #55,269 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "désespérées" and "désespérer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "désespérée vs désespérées". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #55,269 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.