Which to use
“désiraient” and “désirait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #42,308
- “désiraient” frequency rank
- #22,245
- “désirait” frequency rank
- 64553
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | désiraient | désirait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de désirer. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de désirer. |
Same sound, different letters: désiraient vs désirait
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 8 letters. désiraient runs 10 letters (CVCVCVVVCC) against désirait's 8 (CVCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Homophone desk: désiraient vs désirait
This is the hard kind. désiraient and désirait are pronounced identically (\de.zi.ʁɛ\) and both work as averb. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64553, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
désiraient is recorded at frequency rank #42,308, classified as averb, pronounced \de.zi.ʁɛ\. 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 64553, this pair ranks #76,518 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of désiraient vs désirait
Shared letters: adirsté. Private to "désiraient": en. Private to "désirait": -.
"désiraient" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVVVCC · "désirait" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "désiraient" for "désirait" ever safe?
Which is more common, "désiraient" or "désirait"?
Useful next steps
You've separated the homophone pair "désiraient" / "désirait". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "désiraient" 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 #76,518 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "désiraient" and "désirait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décidaient vs désiraient". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #76,518 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.