Which to use
“dérive” is a noun and “dévie” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,052
- “dérive” frequency rank
- #35,008
- “dévie” frequency rank
- 42060
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dérive | dévie |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Écart, déviation entre le cap effectivement suivi par un navire ou un aéroplane et le cap initialement fixé. | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de dévier. |
Where the eye mixes dérive and dévie
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: dérive vs dévie
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dérive is \de.ʁiv\ while dévie is \de.vi\. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42060, 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\. dévie is at rank #35,008, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.vi\.
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 42060, this pair ranks #228,516 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dérive vs dévie
Shared letters: deivé. Private to "dérive": r. Private to "dévie": -.
"dérive" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "dévie" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "dérive" and "dévie" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "dérive" or "dévie"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "dérive" and "dévie" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "dérive" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dévie" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #228,516 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dérive" and "dévie" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dèche vs dévie". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #228,516 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.