dérivéesvsdériverWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: dérivées is a adjective, dériver is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#24,201
“dérivées” frequency rank
#25,632
“dériver” frequency rank
49833
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dérivées dériver
Definition Féminin pluriel de dérivé. Détourner un cours d’eau.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dérivées and dériver apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
dérivées
7 ch
dériver

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: dérivées and dériver carry the same recorded pronunciation, \de.ʁi.ve\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49833, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dérivées is recorded at frequency rank #24,201, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.ʁi.ve\. 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 49833, this pair ranks #167,521 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dérivées vs dériver

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

"dérivées" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC  ·  "dériver" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Frequency comparison

dérivées#24,201
dériver#25,632

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dérivées" and "dériver" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dérivées" is an adjective and "dériver" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "dérivées" or "dériver"?
"dérivées" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,201 in our French list, against #25,632 for "dériver". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dérivées vs dériver

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “dérivées”; for a verb, it's “dériver”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dérivées” 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