débordéevsdéborderWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#34,992
“débordée” frequency rank
#18,720
“déborder” frequency rank
53712
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature débordée déborder
Definition Féminin singulier de débordé. Dépasser le bord, en parlant notamment des fleuves, des rivières, des étangs, de l’eau en général.

Where the spellings diverge

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

8 ch
débordée
8 ch
déborder

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: débordée and déborder carry the same recorded pronunciation, \de.bɔʁ.de\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53712, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

débordée is recorded at frequency rank #34,992, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.bɔʁ.de\. déborder is at rank #18,720, tagged as averb, 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 53712, this pair ranks #138,899 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of débordée vs déborder

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

"débordée" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVV  ·  "déborder" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Frequency comparison

débordée#34,992
déborder#18,720

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "débordée" and "déborder" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "débordée" is an adjective and "déborder" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "débordée" or "déborder"?
"déborder" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,720 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 débordée vs déborder

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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