délitvsdéplaîtWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#4,934
“délit” frequency rank
#23,189
“déplaît” frequency rank
28123
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature délit déplaît
Definition Toute infraction, consciente ou non, aux lois. Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de déplaire.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set délit and déplaît apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
délit
7 ch
déplaît

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: délit is \de.li\ while déplaît is \de.plɛ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28123, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

délit is recorded at frequency rank #4,934, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.li\. déplaît is at rank #23,189, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.plɛ\.

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 28123, this pair ranks #324,779 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of délit vs déplaît

Shared letters: dlté. Private to "délit": i. Private to "déplaît": apî.

"délit" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "déplaît" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Frequency comparison

délit#4,934
déplaît#23,189

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "délit" and "déplaît" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "délit" is a noun and "déplaît" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "délit" or "déplaît"?
"délit" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,934 in our French list, against #23,189 for "déplaît". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering délit vs déplaît

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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