débordevsdébordéeWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#15,859
“déborde” frequency rank
#34,992
“débordée” frequency rank
50851
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature déborde débordée
Definition Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de déborder. Féminin singulier de débordé.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set déborde and débordée apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
déborde
8 ch
débordée

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: déborde is \de.bɔʁd\ while débordée is \de.bɔʁ.de\. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50851, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

déborde is recorded at frequency rank #15,859, classified as averb, pronounced \de.bɔʁd\. débordée is at rank #34,992, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.bɔʁ.de\.

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 50851, this pair ranks #159,442 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of déborde vs débordée

Shared letters: bdeoré. Private to "déborde": -. Private to "débordée": -.

"déborde" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "débordée" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVV

Frequency comparison

déborde#15,859
débordée#34,992

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "déborde" and "débordée" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "déborde" is a verb and "débordée" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "déborde" or "débordée"?
"déborde" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,859 in our French list, against #34,992 for "débordée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering déborde vs débordée

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “déborde”; for an adjective, it's “débordée”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “déborde” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list