déjeunevsdéjeunersConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#34,071
“déjeune” frequency rank
#24,557
“déjeuners” frequency rank
58628
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature déjeune déjeuners
Definition Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de déjeuner. Pluriel de déjeuner.

Where the eye mixes déjeune and déjeuners

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. déjeune runs 7 letters (CVCVVCV) against déjeuners's 9 (CVCVVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
déjeune
9 ch
déjeuners

Why the eye confuses déjeune with déjeuners

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: déjeune is \de.ʒœn\ while déjeuners is \de.ʒœ.ne\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “déjeune” sits inside “déjeuners”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58628, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

déjeune is recorded at frequency rank #34,071, classified as averb, pronounced \de.ʒœn\. déjeuners is at rank #24,557, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.ʒœ.ne\.

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 58628, this pair ranks #107,895 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of déjeune vs déjeuners

Shared letters: dejnué. Private to "déjeune": -. Private to "déjeuners": rs.

"déjeune" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV  ·  "déjeuners" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "déjeune" for "déjeuners" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "déjeune" is a verb and "déjeuners" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "déjeune" vs "déjeuners" - which ranks higher?
"déjeuners" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,557 in our French list, against #34,071 for "déjeune". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "déjeune" and "déjeuners" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "déjeune" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "déjeuners" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #107,895 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "déjeune" and "déjeuners" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décerne vs déjeune". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #107,895 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