désir vs désires, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“désir” is a noun and “désires” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,670
“désir” frequency rank: #37,301
“désires” frequency rank: 39971
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	désir	désires
Definition	Action de désirer ; résultat de cette action.	Deuxième personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de désirer.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set désir and désires apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

désir

7 ch

désires

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: désir and désires carry the same recorded pronunciation, \de.ziʁ\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “désir” sits inside “désires”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39971, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

désir is recorded at frequency rank #2,670, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.ziʁ\. désires is at rank #37,301, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.ziʁ\.

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 39971, this pair ranks #243,970 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of désir vs désires

Shared letters: dirsé. Private to "désir": -. Private to "désires": e.

"désir" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "désires" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Frequency comparison

désir#2,670

désires#37,301

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "désir" and "désires" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "désir" is a noun and "désires" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "désir" or "désires"?

"désir" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,670 in our French list, against #37,301 for "désires". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering désir vs désires

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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