Which to use
“dérive” is a noun and “dériver” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,052
- “dérive” frequency rank
- #25,632
- “dériver” frequency rank
- 32684
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dérive | dériver |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Écart, déviation entre le cap effectivement suivi par un navire ou un aéroplane et le cap initialement fixé. | Détourner un cours d’eau. |
Where the eye mixes dérive and dériver
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. dérive runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against dériver's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: dérive vs dériver
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dérive is \de.ʁiv\ while dériver is \de.ʁi.ve\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “dérive” sits inside “dériver”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32684, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dérive is recorded at frequency rank #7,052, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.ʁiv\. dériver is at rank #25,632, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.ʁi.ve\.
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 32684, this pair ranks #295,629 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dérive vs dériver
Shared letters: deirvé. Private to "dérive": -. Private to "dériver": -.
"dérive" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "dériver" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dérive" for "dériver" ever safe?
Which is more common, "dérive" or "dériver"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "dérive" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dériver" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #295,629 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dérive" and "dériver" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "délier vs dériver". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #295,629 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.