Which to use
“dires” is a noun and “dits” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,949
- “dires” frequency rank
- #5,747
- “dits” frequency rank
- 17696
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dires | dits |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de dire. | Masculin pluriel de dit. |
Where the eye mixes dires and dits
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between dires and dits
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dires is \diʁ\ while dits is [di]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17696, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dires is recorded at frequency rank #11,949, classified as anoun, pronounced \diʁ\. dits is at rank #5,747, tagged as anadj, pronounced [di].
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 17696, this pair ranks #381,917 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of dires vs dits
Shared letters: dis. Private to "dires": er. Private to "dits": t.
"dires" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "dits" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dires" for "dits" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "dires" or "dits" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "dires" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dits" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #381,917 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dires" and "dits" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "diez vs dires". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #381,917 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.