dièsevsdigèreWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: dièse is a noun, digère is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#33,643
“dièse” frequency rank
#34,059
“digère” frequency rank
67702
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dièse digère
Definition Symbole graphique, formé de deux doubles barres croisées, (♯) appartenant à la famille des altérations et dont la fonction est d’indiquer sur la partition, que la hauteur naturelle de la note associée à ce dièse, ou à la clef, sur la ligne où se place la note, doit être élevée d’un demi-ton chromatique. Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de digérer.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dièse and digère apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
dièse
6 ch
digère

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dièse is \djɛz\ while digère is \di.ʒɛʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67702, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dièse is recorded at frequency rank #33,643, classified as anoun, pronounced \djɛz\. digère is at rank #34,059, tagged as averb, pronounced \di.ʒɛʁ\.

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 67702, this pair ranks #62,245 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of dièse vs digère

Shared letters: deiè. Private to "dièse": s. Private to "digère": gr.

"dièse" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "digère" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Frequency comparison

dièse#33,643
digère#34,059

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dièse" and "digère" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dièse" is a noun and "digère" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "dièse" or "digère"?
"dièse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,643 in our French list, against #34,059 for "digère". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dièse vs digère

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “dièse”; for a verb, it's “digère”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dièse” 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