Which to use
“dériver” and “déroger” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,632
- “dériver” frequency rank
- #29,747
- “déroger” frequency rank
- 55379
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dériver | déroger |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Détourner un cours d’eau. | S’écarter, de quelque manière que ce soit, de ce qui est établi par une loi, un acte de l’autorité publique, une convention, des droits, un usage, etc. |
Where the eye mixes dériver and déroger
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. dériver and déroger follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between dériver and déroger
A purely visual mix-up. dériver (\de.ʁi.ve\) and déroger (\de.ʁɔ.ʒe\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55379, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dériver is recorded at frequency rank #25,632, classified as averb, pronounced \de.ʁi.ve\. déroger is at rank #29,747, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.ʁɔ.ʒe\.
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 55379, this pair ranks #127,828 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dériver vs déroger
Shared letters: deré. Private to "dériver": iv. Private to "déroger": go.
"dériver" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "déroger" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dériver" for "déroger" ever safe?
Which is more common, "dériver" or "déroger"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "dériver" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "déroger" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #127,828 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dériver" and "déroger" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "déroger vs dérouter". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #127,828 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.