dégâtvsdelaWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: dégât is a noun, dela is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“dégât” is a noun and “dela” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#24,555
“dégât” frequency rank
#19,803
“dela” frequency rank
44358
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dégât dela
Definition Dommage, détérioration amenés par un accident ou une cause violente. Exprimer un sentiment par un jeu de mine.

Letter map: dégât vs dela

Shared letters muted; letters that set dégât and dela apart highlighted. Shared run: 1. dégât runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against dela's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
dégât
4 ch
dela

Grammar separator: dégât vs dela

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: dégât is anoun and delaaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44358, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dégât is recorded at frequency rank #24,555, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.ɡa\. dela is at rank #19,803, tagged as averb.

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 44358, this pair ranks #211,028 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dégât vs dela

Shared letters: d. Private to "dégât": gtâé. Private to "dela": ael.

"dégât" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "dela" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dela ← ddela · dlea · edla

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dégât" and "dela" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dégât" is a noun and "dela" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "dégât" or "dela"?
"dela" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,803 in our French list, against #24,555 for "dégât". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pair "dégât" vs "dela" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "dégât" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dela" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #211,028 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dégât" and "dela" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dégât vs DGA". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #211,028 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