dégageantvsdégagentTell them apart

Which to use

“dégageant” and “dégagent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#34,511
“dégageant” frequency rank
#20,704
“dégagent” frequency rank
55215
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dégageant dégagent
Definition Participe présent de dégager. Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de dégager.

Where the eye mixes dégageant and dégagent

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. dégageant runs 9 letters (CVCVCVVCC) against dégagent's 8 (CVCVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
dégageant
8 ch
dégagent

Why the eye confuses dégageant with dégagent

A purely visual mix-up. dégageant (\de.ɡa.ʒɑ̃\) and dégagent (\de.ɡaʒ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55215, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dégageant is recorded at frequency rank #34,511, classified as averb, pronounced \de.ɡa.ʒɑ̃\. 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 55215, this pair ranks #128,915 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dégageant vs dégagent

Shared letters: adegnté. Private to "dégageant": -. Private to "dégagent": -.

"dégageant" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVVCC  ·  "dégagent" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dégageant" and "dégagent" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\de.ɡa.ʒɑ̃\ versus \de.ɡaʒ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "dégageant" vs "dégagent" - which ranks higher?
"dégagent" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,704 in our French list, against #34,511 for "dégageant". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "dégageant" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dégagent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #128,915 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dégageant" and "dégagent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dégageait vs dégageant". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #128,915 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list