déléguervsdéléguésWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: déléguer is a verb, délégués is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“déléguer” is a verb and “délégués” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#24,193
“déléguer” frequency rank
#8,231
“délégués” frequency rank
32424
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature déléguer délégués
Definition Députer, commettre, envoyer quelqu’un avec pouvoir d’agir, d’examiner, de juger, de négocier, etc. Masculin pluriel de délégué.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set déléguer and délégués apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
déléguer
8 ch
délégués

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: déléguer and délégués carry the same recorded pronunciation, \de.le.ɡe\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is averb, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32424, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

déléguer is recorded at frequency rank #24,193, classified as averb, pronounced \de.le.ɡe\. délégués is at rank #8,231, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.le.ɡe\.

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 32424, this pair ranks #297,384 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of déléguer vs délégués

Shared letters: dglué. Private to "déléguer": er. Private to "délégués": s.

"déléguer" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC  ·  "délégués" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC

Frequency comparison

déléguer#24,193
délégués#8,231

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "déléguer" and "délégués" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "déléguer" is a verb and "délégués" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "déléguer" or "délégués"?
"délégués" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,231 in our French list, against #24,193 for "déléguer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering déléguer vs délégués

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “déléguer”; for an adjective, it's “délégués”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “déléguer” 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