deavsdurConfusable pair

Quick tell: dea is a verb, dur is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“dea” is a verb and “dur” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#19,801
“dea” frequency rank
#940
“dur” frequency rank
20741
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dea dur
Definition Manger chez quelqu’un, de quelque chose. Ferme ; difficile à pénétrer ou à entamer.

Letter map: dea vs dur

Shared letters muted; letters that set dea and dur apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
dea
3 ch
dur

Role in the sentence - dea and dur

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: dea is averb and duranadjective. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20741, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dea is recorded at frequency rank #19,801, classified as averb. dur is at rank #940, tagged as anadj, pronounced \dyʁ\.

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 20741, this pair ranks #366,724 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of dea vs dur

Shared letters: d. Private to "dea": ae. Private to "dur": ru.

"dea" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "dur" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "dea" for "dur" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dea" is a verb and "dur" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "dea" or "dur"?
"dur" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #940 in our French list, against #19,801 for "dea". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

You've compared "dea" and "dur". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "dea" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dur" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #366,724 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dea" and "dur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dea vs dray". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #366,724 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list