A desert is a very dry region. To desert something is to abandon it. Dessert is the course that usually comes at the end of a meal, often something sweet. The spelling and the stress depend on the meaning.
Listen for the stressed syllable
- Desert as a noun. We watched the sunrise over the desert. For the dry region, stress the first syllable.
- Desert as a verb. The tenants deserted the building. For the verb meaning abandon, stress the second syllable.
- Dessert. We shared a slice of cake for dessert. Stress the second syllable and write two s letters.
Remember the spelling of just deserts
The expression just deserts means what someone deserves. Its second word sounds like desserts and has a single s in the middle. See orthography for more on how spelling marks differences between words.
