Which to use
“diffère” is a verb and “différée” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,352
- “diffère” frequency rank
- #42,827
- “différée” frequency rank
- 55179
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | diffère | différée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de différer. | Féminin singulier de différé. |
Where the eye mixes diffère and différée
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. diffère runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against différée's 8 (CVCCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: diffère vs différée
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: diffère is \di.fɛʁ\ while différée is \di.fe.ʁe\. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55179, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
diffère is recorded at frequency rank #12,352, classified as averb, pronounced \di.fɛʁ\. différée is at rank #42,827, tagged as anadj, pronounced \di.fe.ʁe\.
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 55179, this pair ranks #129,147 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of diffère vs différée
Shared letters: defir. Private to "diffère": è. Private to "différée": é.
"diffère" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "différée" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "diffère" for "différée" ever safe?
Which is more common, "diffère" or "différée"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "diffère" and "différée" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "diffère" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "différée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #129,147 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "diffère" and "différée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "différée vs difforme". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #129,147 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.