Which to use
“désirais” and “désirons” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,255
- “désirais” frequency rank
- #38,774
- “désirons” frequency rank
- 80029
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | désirais | désirons |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de désirer. | Première personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de désirer. |
Where the eye mixes désirais and désirons
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. désirais (CVCVCVVC) and désirons (CVCVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: désirais vs désirons
A purely visual mix-up. désirais (\de.zi.ʁɛ\) and désirons (\de.zi.ʁɔ̃\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80029, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
désirais is recorded at frequency rank #41,255, classified as averb, pronounced \de.zi.ʁɛ\. désirons is at rank #38,774, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.zi.ʁɔ̃\.
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 80029, this pair ranks #21,906 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of désirais vs désirons
Shared letters: dirsé. Private to "désirais": a. Private to "désirons": no.
"désirais" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC · "désirons" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "désirais" for "désirons" ever safe?
Which is more common, "désirais" or "désirons"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "désirais" and "désirons" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "désirais" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "désirons" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #21,906 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "désirais" and "désirons" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "désirais vs désirées". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #21,906 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.