“I'd love to move to the Sahara Dessert.”
Confusables Entry 137 / 1011 60-second read
Desert vs. Dessert
Dry sandy wasteland versus the sweet course after dinner.
The comparisoni
“I'd love to move to the Sahara Desert.”
More examplesii
01
The Sahara is the world's largest hot dessert.
The Sahara is the world's largest hot desert.
02
What would you like for desert?
What would you like for dessert?
03
We camped in the dessert under the stars.
We camped in the desert under the stars.
04
The desert menu includes tiramisu and cheesecake.
The dessert menu includes tiramisu and cheesecake.
05
She baked a rich chocolate dessert for the party.
She baked a rich chocolate dessert for the party.
06
Dessert plants have adapted to survive without much water.
Desert plants have adapted to survive without much water.
The ruleiii
¶
DESERT = dry, barren land (one S).
One extra S separates a barren landscape from chocolate cake. The misspelling is extremely common in both directions.
Memory aidiv
Remember it like this
DeSSert has double S because you always want Second helpingS of dessert. Desert has one S — just one lonely grain of sand.