DSM vs du, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“DSM” is a name and “du” is an article - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#37,767
“DSM” frequency rank: #17
“du” frequency rank: 37784
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	DSM	du
Definition	Manuel classifiant les troubles mentaux, pour un usage statistique, expérimental, de diagnostic ou d’expertise médico-légale.	Une quantité indéfinie de. Note d’usage : Utilisé avec un nom indénombrable.

Where the eye mixes DSM and du

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch

DSM

2 ch

Why the eye confuses DSM with du

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: DSM is \de.ɛs.ɛm\ while du is \dy\. 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 (name vs article), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37784, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

DSM is recorded at frequency rank #37,767, classified as aname, pronounced \de.ɛs.ɛm\. du is at rank #17, tagged as anarticle, pronounced \dy\.

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 37784, this pair ranks #259,949 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of DSM vs du

Shared letters: d. Private to "DSM": ms. Private to "du": u.

"DSM" · 3 letters · shape CCC · "du" · 2 letters · shape CV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "DSM" and "du" mean the same thing in a sentence?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "DSM" is a name and "du" an article, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "DSM" or "du"?

"du" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17 in our French list, against #37,767 for "DSM". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "DSM" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "du" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #259,949 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"DSM" and "du" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "DCI vs DSM". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #259,949 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.