Which to use
“dérivent” is a verb and “dérives” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #39,274
- “dérivent” frequency rank
- #11,395
- “dérives” frequency rank
- 50669
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dérivent | dérives |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de dériver. | Pluriel de dérive. |
Same sound, different letters: dérivent vs dérives
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. dérivent runs 8 letters (CVCVCVCC) against dérives's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Homophone desk: dérivent vs dérives
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: dérivent and dérives carry the same recorded pronunciation, \de.ʁiv\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is averb, the other anoun, 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 50669, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dérivent is recorded at frequency rank #39,274, classified as averb, pronounced \de.ʁiv\. dérives is at rank #11,395, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.ʁiv\.
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 50669, this pair ranks #160,848 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dérivent vs dérives
Shared letters: deirvé. Private to "dérivent": nt. Private to "dérives": s.
"dérivent" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC · "dérives" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dérivent" and "dérives" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "dérivent" or "dérives"?
After this comparison
"dérivent" and "dérives" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "dérivent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dérives" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #160,848 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dérivent" and "dérives" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dérivant vs dérivent". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #160,848 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.