déjàvsdlaWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#122
“déjà” frequency rank
#27,771
“dla” frequency rank
27893
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes déjà and dla

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

4 ch
déjà
3 ch
dla

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: déjà is \de.ʒa\ while dla is \dla\. 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 preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27893, 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\. dla is at rank #27,771, tagged as aprep, pronounced \dla\.

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 27893, this pair ranks #326,108 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of déjà vs dla

Shared letters: d. Private to "déjà": jàé. Private to "dla": al.

"déjà" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "dla" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "déjà" and "dla" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "déjà" is an adverb and "dla" a preposition, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "déjà" or "dla"?
"déjà" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #122 in our French list, against #27,771 for "dla". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list