Which to use
“défilent” and “dérivent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,122
- “défilent” frequency rank
- #39,274
- “dérivent” frequency rank
- 59396
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | défilent | dérivent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de défiler. | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de dériver. |
Where the eye mixes défilent and dérivent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. défilent and dérivent follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: défilent vs dérivent
A purely visual mix-up. défilent (\de.fil\) and dérivent (\de.ʁiv\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59396, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
défilent is recorded at frequency rank #20,122, classified as averb, pronounced \de.fil\. dérivent is at rank #39,274, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.ʁiv\.
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 59396, this pair ranks #103,387 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of défilent vs dérivent
Shared letters: deinté. Private to "défilent": fl. Private to "dérivent": rv.
"défilent" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC · "dérivent" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "défilent" and "dérivent" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "défilent" vs "dérivent" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "défilent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dérivent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #103,387 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "défilent" and "dérivent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dérivant vs dérivent". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #103,387 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.