dégagesvsdegasWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#39,759
“dégages” frequency rank
#39,742
“degas” frequency rank
79501
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dégages degas
Definition Deuxième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de dégager. Enlever le gaz de.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dégages and degas apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
dégages
5 ch
degas

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. dégages (\de.ɡaʒ\) and degas (\ˈde.ɡaz\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 79501, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dégages is recorded at frequency rank #39,759, classified as averb, pronounced \de.ɡaʒ\. degas is at rank #39,742, tagged as averb, pronounced \ˈde.ɡaz\.

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 79501, this pair ranks #23,133 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of dégages vs degas

Shared letters: adegs. Private to "dégages": é. Private to "degas": -.

"dégages" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "degas" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • degasddegas · deags · degass · deggas · degsa · dgeas · edgas

Frequency comparison

dégages#39,759
degas#39,742

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dégages" and "degas" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\de.ɡaʒ\ versus \ˈde.ɡaz\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "dégages" or "degas"?
"degas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #39,742 in our French list, against #39,759 for "dégages". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dégages vs degas

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dégages” 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