Which to use
“dép” is a noun and “du” is an article - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #41,754
- “dép” frequency rank
- #17
- “du” frequency rank
- 41771
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dép | du |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dépanneur. | Une quantité indéfinie de. Note d’usage : Utilisé avec un nom indénombrable. |
Where the eye mixes dép and du
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. dép runs 3 letters (CVC) against du's 2 (CV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between dép and du
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dép is \dɛp\ while du is \dy\. 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 (noun vs article), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41771, 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\. du is at rank #17, tagged as anarticle, pronounced \dy\.
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 41771, this pair ranks #230,623 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dép vs du
Shared letters: d. Private to "dép": pé. Private to "du": u.
"dép" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "du" · 2 letters · shape CV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dép" for "du" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "dép" or "du" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "dép" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "du" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #230,623 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dép" and "du" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "DCI vs dép". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #230,623 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.