dessinervsdevinerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“dessiner” and “deviner” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#7,300
“dessiner” frequency rank
#7,420
“deviner” frequency rank
14720
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dessiner deviner
Definition Représenter, reproduire par le dessin. Prédire ce qui doit arriver, découvrir, par des sortilèges, ce qui est caché.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dessiner and deviner apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
dessiner
7 ch
deviner

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. dessiner (\de.si.ne\) and deviner (\də.vi.ne\) 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 14720, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dessiner is recorded at frequency rank #7,300, classified as averb, pronounced \de.si.ne\. deviner is at rank #7,420, tagged as averb, pronounced \də.vi.ne\.

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 14720, this pair ranks #395,485 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of dessiner vs deviner

Shared letters: deinr. Private to "dessiner": s. Private to "deviner": v.

"dessiner" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "deviner" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dessinerddessiner · desiner · desisner · dessienr · dessinerr · dessinner · dessinre · dessnier
  • devinerddeviner · deivner · devienr · devinerr · devinner · devinre · devnier · devviner

Frequency comparison

dessiner#7,300
deviner#7,420

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dessiner" and "deviner" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\de.si.ne\ versus \də.vi.ne\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "dessiner" or "deviner"?
"dessiner" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,300 in our French list, against #7,420 for "deviner". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dessiner vs deviner

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dessiner” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list