Desert and dessert differ by one s, and the extra s is the clue. Desert with one s is the dry land of the Sahara, and it is also a verb meaning to leave someone. Dessert with two s’s is the sweet course at the end of a meal.
The stress helps in speech. The noun desert is DES-ert, with the stress on the first syllable. Dessert is de-SSERT, with the stress on the second. The verb desert is also de-SSERT.
This page gives the spellings, the stress patterns, eight examples and 15 questions. Every answer explains whether the sentence is about sand or about sugar.
What each word means
desert
desert (noun): a large dry area of land with little rain. Pronounced DES-ert. Also a verb: to leave someone or something. Pronounced de-SERT. One s.
dessert
dessert (noun): the sweet course eaten at the end of a meal. Pronounced de-SSERT. Two s’s.
The rule
Desert is the dry place
- The noun means a dry region: the Sahara Desert, a desert island, desert plants.
- The verb desert means to leave someone or something: "He deserted his family."
- A desert island has no people, even though it may have trees and a beach.
- The idiom food desert describes an area with no shops selling fresh food.
Dessert is the sweet course
- Dessert is the food after the main course: ice cream, cake, fruit salad.
- The phrase for dessert answers the question of what comes last: "We had cake for dessert."
- The word comes from the French desservir, meaning to clear the table.
- This noun is always spelled with two s’s, in every position.
The double-s and stress tests
- Two s’s mean sweet: dessert. One s means sand: desert.
- The sweet course is de-SSERT, with the stress at the end, like the word stress on the last word of a sentence.
- The dry land noun is DES-ert, with the stress at the front.
- If the sentence has a spoon, a menu or an oven, you need dessert.
The famous just deserts
- Just deserts means the punishment someone deserves. It is spelled with one s and is pronounced like the noun deserts.
- The word here is related to deserve, not to the sweet course. Many people misspell it as just desserts.
- The verb desert appears in the phrase desert a sinking ship.
- Keep the pronunciation in mind: when you talk about leaving or punishing, the stress moves to the second syllable.
How to remember
The trick: Dessert has two s’s because you want a second helping. Desert has one s, like the dry sand.
Examples
- The Sahara is the largest hot desert.The dry region is spelled with one s.
- We had ice cream for dessert.The sweet course is spelled with two s’s.
- A desert island has no people.Desert before a noun means empty or dry.
- She made a chocolate dessert.The sweet dish takes the double-s spelling.
- Camels live in the desert.The place with sand uses the one-s spelling.
- What is for dessert tonight?For dessert asks about the last course.
- The soldiers deserted their post.The verb to leave uses the same one-s spelling.
- The restaurant is famous for its desserts.The plural of the sweet course keeps two s’s.
Common mistakes
- Wrong: The Sahara is a large dessert. Right: The Sahara is a large desert.
- A dry region is a desert with one s; a dessert is sweet food.
- Wrong: We had cake for desert. Right: We had cake for dessert.
- The sweet course takes two s’s.
- Wrong: The pudding is a popular desert. Right: The pudding is a popular dessert.
- The sentence describes sweet food, so the double-s spelling is needed.
- Wrong: They walked across the dessert. Right: They walked across the desert.
- People walk across dry land, not across a sweet course.
- Wrong: He finally got his just desserts. Right: He finally got his just deserts.
- Just deserts comes from deserve and takes one s, not the food spelling.
Practice drill
Answer all 15 questions. Each answer is marked at once, and the rule is explained under the question.
The Sahara is the largest hot ___.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. desert The dry region is spelled desert with one s.
We had ice cream for ___.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. dessert The sweet course after a meal is dessert with two s’s.
A ___ island has no people.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. desert Desert before a noun can mean empty, so the one-s spelling is correct.
She made a chocolate ___.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. dessert A sweet dish is a dessert with two s’s.
Camels live in the ___.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. desert Camels live in the dry land spelled desert with one s.
What is for ___ tonight?
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. dessert For dessert asks about the sweet course at the end of the meal.
The soldiers ___ their post.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. deserted The verb meaning to leave is spelled desert with one s.
The restaurant is famous for its ___.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. desserts The sweet courses are desserts with two s’s in the plural.
Cactuses grow in the ___.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. desert Cactuses grow in the dry land spelled desert with one s.
Would you like some ___?
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. dessert The offer of sweet food is an offer of dessert with two s’s.
The car broke down in the middle of the ___.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. desert The car is in the dry land, so desert with one s is correct.
This ___ is too sweet for me.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. dessert Sweetness points to the sweet course, dessert with two s’s.
He was accused of ___ his family.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. deserting The verb meaning to leave is desert, so its -ing form has one s.
After dinner we ordered two ___.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. desserts Two sweet courses are two desserts with two s’s.
He finally got his just ___.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. deserts Just deserts comes from deserve and takes one s, not the food spelling.
Questions learners ask
Why is just deserts spelled with one s?
The word in this phrase is an old noun meaning something deserved, from the verb deserve. It is not the sweet course. The spelling with two s’s is a common error, but dictionaries keep one s for just deserts.
How do I pronounce the three words?
The dry land noun is DES-ert, with stress on the first syllable. The verb to leave is de-SERT, with stress on the second. The sweet course is also de-SSERT. If the stress is at the end and the sentence is about food, it is dessert.
Is desert always dry and sandy?
A desert receives very little rain, but it can be rocky, icy or cold. Antarctica is the largest desert on Earth. The key is the small amount of rain, not the temperature or the sand.
More confusing words
Peace vs piece
Peace means calm, quiet and no fighting. Piece means a part or portion of something.
Quiet vs quite
Quiet is about low noise and has two syllables. Quite is an adverb that makes the next word stronger: quite good means fairly good.
Then vs than
Then tells you when or what is next. Than compares one thing with another after a comparative word.
Browse all the confusing word pairs or take the free A1 to C2 level test to find your starting point.