Which to use
“derniers” is an adjective and “derrières” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #870
- “derniers” frequency rank
- #31,917
- “derrières” frequency rank
- 32787
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | derniers | derrières |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de dernier. | Pluriel de derrière. |
Where the eye mixes derniers and derrières
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: derniers vs derrières
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: derniers is \dɛʁ.nje\ while derrières is \dɛ.ʁjɛʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32787, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
derniers is recorded at frequency rank #870, classified as anadj, pronounced \dɛʁ.nje\. derrières is at rank #31,917, tagged as anoun, pronounced \dɛ.ʁjɛʁ\.
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 32787, this pair ranks #294,961 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of derniers vs derrières
Shared letters: deirs. Private to "derniers": n. Private to "derrières": è.
"derniers" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCC · "derrières" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- derniers ← dderniers · denriers · deriners · derneirs · dernierrs · dernierss · derniesr · dernires
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "derniers" and "derrières" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "derniers" or "derrières" show up more?
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 "derniers" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "derrières" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #294,961 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "derniers" and "derrières" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "denier vs derniers". 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 #294,961 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.