dép vs déplu, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#41,754
“dép” frequency rank: #35,002
“déplu” frequency rank: 76756
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	dép	déplu
Definition	Dépanneur.	Participe passé masculin singulier de déplaire.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dép and déplu apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

dép

5 ch

déplu

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dép is \dɛp\ while déplu is \de.ply\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “dép” sits inside “déplu”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76756, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dép is recorded at frequency rank #41,754, classified as anoun, pronounced \dɛp\. déplu is at rank #35,002, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.ply\.

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 76756, this pair ranks #30,247 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of dép vs déplu

Shared letters: dpé. Private to "dép": -. Private to "déplu": lu.

"dép" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "déplu" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Frequency comparison

dép#41,754

déplu#35,002

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dép" and "déplu" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dép" is a noun and "déplu" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "dép" or "déplu"?

"déplu" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,002 in our French list, against #41,754 for "dép". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dép vs déplu

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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