Which to use
“désignait” and “désirait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,849
- “désignait” frequency rank
- #22,245
- “désirait” frequency rank
- 46094
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | désignait | désirait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de désigner. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de désirer. |
Where the eye mixes désignait and désirait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. désignait runs 9 letters (CVCVCCVVC) against désirait's 8 (CVCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: désignait vs désirait
A purely visual mix-up. désignait (\de.zi.ɲɛ\) and désirait (\de.zi.ʁɛ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46094, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
désignait is recorded at frequency rank #23,849, classified as averb, pronounced \de.zi.ɲɛ\. désirait is at rank #22,245, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.zi.ʁɛ\.
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 46094, this pair ranks #197,651 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of désignait vs désirait
Shared letters: adisté. Private to "désignait": gn. Private to "désirait": r.
"désignait" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC · "désirait" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "désignait" and "désirait" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "désignait" or "désirait" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "désignait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "désirait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #197,651 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "désignait" and "désirait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "désigna vs désignait". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #197,651 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.