Which to use
“désires” and “désirez” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,301
- “désires” frequency rank
- #11,397
- “désirez” frequency rank
- 48698
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | désires | désirez |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Deuxième personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de désirer. | Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de désirer. |
Where the eye mixes désires and désirez
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. désires and désirez follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: désires vs désirez
A purely visual mix-up. désires (\de.ziʁ\) and désirez (\de.zi.ʁe\) 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 a single letter - s in “désires” becomes z in “désirez”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48698, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
désires is recorded at frequency rank #37,301, classified as averb, pronounced \de.ziʁ\. désirez is at rank #11,397, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.zi.ʁe\.
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 48698, this pair ranks #176,737 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of désires vs désirez
Shared letters: deirsé. Private to "désires": -. Private to "désirez": z.
"désires" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "désirez" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "désires" for "désirez" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "désires" or "désirez" 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 "désires" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "désirez" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #176,737 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "désires" and "désirez" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "désirées vs désires". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #176,737 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.