Which to use
“débordent” and “déborder” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #31,454
- “débordent” frequency rank
- #18,720
- “déborder” frequency rank
- 50174
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | débordent | déborder |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de déborder. | Dépasser le bord, en parlant notamment des fleuves, des rivières, des étangs, de l’eau en général. |
Where the eye mixes débordent and déborder
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. débordent runs 9 letters (CVCVCCVCC) against déborder's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses débordent with déborder
A purely visual mix-up. débordent (\de.bɔʁd\) and déborder (\de.bɔʁ.de\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50174, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
débordent is recorded at frequency rank #31,454, classified as averb, pronounced \de.bɔʁd\. 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 50174, this pair ranks #164,710 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of débordent vs déborder
Shared letters: bdeoré. Private to "débordent": nt. Private to "déborder": -.
"débordent" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC · "déborder" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "débordent" and "déborder" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "débordent" or "déborder" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "débordent" and "déborder" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "débordent" 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 #164,710 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "débordent" and "déborder" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "débordent vs déforment". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #164,710 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.