dirasvsdisaisWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#11,948
“diras” frequency rank
#2,771
“disais” frequency rank
14719
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature diras disais
Definition Deuxième personne du singulier du futur de l’indicatif du verbe dire. Première personne du singulier de l’imparfait de dire.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
diras
6 ch
disais

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. diras (\di.ʁa\) and disais (\di.zɛ\) 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 14719, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

diras is recorded at frequency rank #11,948, classified as averb, pronounced \di.ʁa\. disais is at rank #2,771, tagged as averb, pronounced \di.zɛ\.

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 14719, this pair ranks #395,494 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of diras vs disais

Shared letters: adis. Private to "diras": r. Private to "disais": -.

"diras" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "disais" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dirasddiras · diars · dirass · dirras · dirsa · drias · idras
  • disaisddisais · diasis · disaiss · disasi · disias · dissais · dsiais · idsais

Frequency comparison

diras#11,948
disais#2,771

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "diras" and "disais" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\di.ʁa\ versus \di.zɛ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "diras" or "disais"?
"disais" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,771 in our French list, against #11,948 for "diras". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering diras vs disais

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 “diras” 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