dégagévsdégagezWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#9,648
“dégagé” frequency rank
#36,363
“dégagez” frequency rank
46011
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
dégagé
7 ch
dégagez

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: dégagé and dégagez carry the same recorded pronunciation, \de.ɡa.ʒe\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46011, 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\. dégagez is at rank #36,363, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.ɡa.ʒe\.

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 46011, this pair ranks #198,314 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dégagé vs dégagez

Shared letters: adgé. Private to "dégagé": -. Private to "dégagez": ez.

"dégagé" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "dégagez" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Frequency comparison

dégagé#9,648
dégagez#36,363

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dégagé" and "dégagez" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dégagé" is an adjective and "dégagez" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "dégagé" or "dégagez"?
"dégagé" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,648 in our French list, against #36,363 for "dégagez". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dégagé vs dégagez

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 “dégagez”.
  • 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