déjàvsdetWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: déjà is a adverb, det is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“déjà” is an adverb and “det” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#122
“déjà” frequency rank
#34,976
“det” frequency rank
35098
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature déjà det
Definition Indique un changement d’état ou une atteinte du critère jusqu’à présent ou jusqu’alors. Mer.

Where the eye mixes déjà and det

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

4 ch
déjà
3 ch
det

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: déjà is \de.ʒa\ while det is \ˈdet\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35098, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

déjà is recorded at frequency rank #122, classified as anadv, pronounced \de.ʒa\. det is at rank #34,976, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈdet\.

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 35098, this pair ranks #279,210 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of déjà vs det

Shared letters: d. Private to "déjà": jàé. Private to "det": et.

"déjà" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "det" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "déjà" and "det" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "déjà" is an adverb and "det" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "déjà" or "det"?
"déjà" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #122 in our French list, against #34,976 for "det". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

You've compared "déjà" and "det". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "déjà" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "det" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #279,210 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "déjà" and "det" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "DCI vs det". Nearby pair

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list