Which to use
“dèche” and “dette” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #49,607
- “dèche” frequency rank
- #2,469
- “dette” frequency rank
- 52076
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dèche | dette |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Misère, gêne financière. | Somme due à un créancier. |
Where the eye mixes dèche and dette
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. dèche and dette follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: dèche vs dette
A purely visual mix-up. dèche (\dɛʃ\) and dette (\dɛt\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52076, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dèche is recorded at frequency rank #49,607, classified as anoun, pronounced \dɛʃ\. dette is at rank #2,469, tagged as anoun, pronounced \dɛt\.
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 52076, this pair ranks #150,343 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dèche vs dette
Shared letters: de. Private to "dèche": chè. Private to "dette": t.
"dèche" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "dette" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- dette ← ddette · dete · detet · dtete · edtte
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dèche" and "dette" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "dèche" or "dette" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "dèche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dette" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #150,343 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dèche" and "dette" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dèche vs déçues". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #150,343 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.