dégagévsdégagentWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: dégagé is a adjective, dégagent is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“dégagé” is an adjective and “dégagent” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#9,648
“dégagé” frequency rank
#20,704
“dégagent” frequency rank
30352
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dégagé dégagent
Definition Qualifie une allure, une démarche qui semble n'être pas gênée par quoi que ce soit. Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de dégager.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dégagé and dégagent apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
dégagé
8 ch
dégagent

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dégagé is \de.ɡa.ʒe\ while dégagent is \de.ɡaʒ\. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30352, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dégagé is recorded at frequency rank #9,648, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.ɡa.ʒe\. dégagent is at rank #20,704, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.ɡaʒ\.

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 30352, this pair ranks #310,907 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dégagé vs dégagent

Shared letters: adgé. Private to "dégagé": -. Private to "dégagent": ent.

"dégagé" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "dégagent" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC

Frequency comparison

dégagé#9,648
dégagent#20,704

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dégagé" and "dégagent" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dégagé" is an adjective and "dégagent" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "dégagé" or "dégagent"?
"dégagé" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,648 in our French list, against #20,704 for "dégagent". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dégagé vs dégagent

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “dégagé”; for a verb, it's “dégagent”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dégagé” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list