déroulevsdérouterWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“déroule” and “dérouter” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#5,031
“déroule” frequency rank
#46,729
“dérouter” frequency rank
51760
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature déroule dérouter
Definition Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de dérouler. Égarer quelqu’un de sa route.

Where the eye mixes déroule and dérouter

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. déroule runs 7 letters (CVCVVCV) against dérouter's 8 (CVCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
déroule
8 ch
dérouter

Why the eye confuses déroule with dérouter

A purely visual mix-up. déroule (\de.ʁul\) and dérouter (\de.ʁu.te\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51760, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

déroule is recorded at frequency rank #5,031, classified as averb, pronounced \de.ʁul\. dérouter is at rank #46,729, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.ʁu.te\.

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 51760, this pair ranks #152,662 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of déroule vs dérouter

Shared letters: deorué. Private to "déroule": l. Private to "dérouter": t.

"déroule" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV  ·  "dérouter" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "déroule" and "dérouter" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\de.ʁul\ versus \de.ʁu.te\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "déroule" vs "dérouter" - which ranks higher?
"déroule" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,031 in our French list, against #46,729 for "dérouter". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "déroule" and "dérouter" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "déroule" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dérouter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #152,662 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "déroule" and "dérouter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "débouté vs dérouter". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #152,662 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list