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. |
Same sound, different letters: débordée vs déborder
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 7 letters. débordée (CVCVCCVV) and déborder (CVCVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Same sound, different spelling - débordée / déborder
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
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "débordée" and "déborder" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "débordée" vs "déborder" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
"débordée" and "déborder" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "débordée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "déborder" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #138,899 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "débordée" and "déborder" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "débordée vs déportée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #138,899 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.