Which to use
“désignent” and “désigner” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,731
- “désignent” frequency rank
- #5,127
- “désigner” frequency rank
- 23858
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | désignent | désigner |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de désigner. | Indiquer une personne ou une chose par des expressions, par des marques qui la font reconnaître. |
Where the eye mixes désignent and désigner
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. désignent runs 9 letters (CVCVCCVCC) against désigner's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: désignent vs désigner
A purely visual mix-up. désignent (\de.ziɲ\) and désigner (\de.zi.ɲe\) 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 23858, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
désignent is recorded at frequency rank #18,731, classified as averb, pronounced \de.ziɲ\. désigner is at rank #5,127, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.zi.ɲe\.
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 23858, this pair ranks #350,044 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of désignent vs désigner
Shared letters: deginsé. Private to "désignent": t. Private to "désigner": r.
"désignent" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC · "désigner" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "désignent" for "désigner" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "désignent" or "désigner" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "désignent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "désigner" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #350,044 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "désignent" and "désigner" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "désignent vs désignera". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #350,044 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.