déçuvsduWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: déçu is a adjective, du is an article, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“déçu” is an adjective and “du” is an article - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,752
“déçu” frequency rank
#17
“du” frequency rank
3769
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature déçu du
Definition Qui a éprouvé une déception, qui a subi une situation inférieure à ses attentes. Une quantité indéfinie de. Note d’usage : Utilisé avec un nom indénombrable.

Where the eye mixes déçu and du

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
déçu
2 ch
du

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: déçu is \de.sy\ while du is \dy\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs article), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3769, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

déçu is recorded at frequency rank #3,752, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.sy\. du is at rank #17, tagged as anarticle, pronounced \dy\.

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 3769, this pair ranks #433,235 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of déçu vs du

Shared letters: du. Private to "déçu": çé. Private to "du": -.

"déçu" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "du" · 2 letters · shape CV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "déçu" and "du" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "déçu" is an adjective and "du" an article, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "déçu" or "du"?
"du" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17 in our French list, against #3,752 for "déçu". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list