dérivéevsdérivéesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: dérivée is a noun, dérivées is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“dérivée” is a noun and “dérivées” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#22,550
“dérivée” frequency rank
#24,201
“dérivées” frequency rank
46751
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dérivée dérivées
Definition Limite du taux d’accroissement d’une fonction d'une variable réelle en un point quand l’accroissement de la variable tend vers zéro. Féminin pluriel de dérivé.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dérivée and dérivées apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
dérivée
8 ch
dérivées

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: dérivée and dérivées carry the same recorded pronunciation, \de.ʁi.ve\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “dérivée” sits inside “dérivées”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46751, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dérivée is recorded at frequency rank #22,550, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.ʁi.ve\. dérivées is at rank #24,201, tagged as anadj, 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 46751, this pair ranks #192,402 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dérivée vs dérivées

Shared letters: deirvé. Private to "dérivée": -. Private to "dérivées": s.

"dérivée" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV  ·  "dérivées" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC

Frequency comparison

dérivée#22,550
dérivées#24,201

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dérivée" and "dérivées" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dérivée" is a noun and "dérivées" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "dérivée" or "dérivées"?
"dérivée" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,550 in our French list, against #24,201 for "dérivées". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dérivée vs dérivées

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “dérivée”; for an adjective, it's “dérivées”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dérivée” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list