Which to use
“dérive” is a noun and “dirige” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,052
- “dérive” frequency rank
- #3,529
- “dirige” frequency rank
- 10581
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dérive | dirige |
|---|---|---|
| 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 diriger. |
Where the eye mixes dérive and dirige
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between dérive and dirige
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dérive is \de.ʁiv\ while dirige is \di.ʁiʒ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10581, 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\. dirige is at rank #3,529, tagged as averb, pronounced \di.ʁiʒ\.
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 10581, this pair ranks #412,423 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of dérive vs dirige
Shared letters: deir. Private to "dérive": vé. Private to "dirige": g.
"dérive" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "dirige" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- dirige ← ddirige · diirge · dirgie · dirieg · dirigge · dirrige · driige · idrige
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dérive" for "dirige" ever safe?
Which is more common, "dérive" or "dirige"?
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 "dérive" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dirige" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #412,423 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dérive" and "dirige" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décriée vs dérive". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #412,423 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.