deportvsdepositWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: deport is a verb, deposit is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“deport” is a verb and “deposit” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#22,948
“deport” frequency rank
#4,750
“deposit” frequency rank
27698
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature deport deposit
Definition To comport (oneself); to behave. Sediment or rock that is not native to its present location or is different from the surrounding material. Sometimes refers to ore or gems.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set deport and deposit apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
deport
7 ch
deposit

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: deport is /dɪˈpɔɹt/ while deposit is /dɪˈpɒz.ɪt/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27698, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

deport is recorded at frequency rank #22,948, classified as averb, pronounced /dɪˈpɔɹt/. deposit is at rank #4,750, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɪˈpɒz.ɪt/.

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 27698, this pair ranks #376,848 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of deport vs deposit

Shared letters: deopt. Private to "deport": r. Private to "deposit": is.

"deport" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "deposit" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • deportddeport · deoprt · deporrt · deportt · depotr · depport · deprot · dpeort
  • depositddeposit · deopsit · depoist · depositt · depossit · deposti · depposit · depsoit

Frequency comparison

deport#22,948
deposit#4,750

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "deport" and "deposit" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "deport" is a verb and "deposit" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "deport" or "deposit"?
"deposit" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,750 in our English list, against #22,948 for "deport". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering deport vs deposit

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “deport”; for a noun, it's “deposit”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “deport” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list