déblayervsdéclarerWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“déblayer” and “déclarer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#47,848
“déblayer” frequency rank
#5,028
“déclarer” frequency rank
52876
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature déblayer déclarer
Definition Débarrasser, dégager un lieu des choses qui l’encombrent, qui s’y trouvent entassées confusément. Faire connaître d’une façon manifeste.

Where the eye mixes déblayer and déclarer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
déblayer
8 ch
déclarer

Look-alike desk: déblayer vs déclarer

A purely visual mix-up. déblayer (\de.ble.je\) and déclarer (\de.kla.ʁe\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52876, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

déblayer is recorded at frequency rank #47,848, classified as averb, pronounced \de.ble.je\. déclarer is at rank #5,028, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.kla.ʁe\.

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 52876, this pair ranks #144,641 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of déblayer vs déclarer

Shared letters: adelré. Private to "déblayer": by. Private to "déclarer": c.

"déblayer" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVVC  ·  "déclarer" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "déblayer" for "déclarer" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\de.ble.je\ versus \de.kla.ʁe\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "déblayer" vs "déclarer" - which ranks higher?
"déclarer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,028 in our French list, against #47,848 for "déblayer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "déblayer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "déclarer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #144,641 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "déblayer" and "déclarer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "déblayer vs déployer". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #144,641 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