prodiguevsprodiguerWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: prodigue is a adjective, prodiguer is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“prodigue” is an adjective and “prodiguer” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#26,483
“prodigue” frequency rank
#33,840
“prodiguer” frequency rank
60323
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature prodigue prodiguer
Definition Qui dissipe son bien en libéralités excessives, en dépenses déraisonnables. Donner, dépenser avec profusion.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set prodigue and prodiguer apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
prodigue
9 ch
prodiguer

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: prodigue is \pʁɔ.diɡ\ while prodiguer is \pʁɔ.di.ɡe\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “prodigue” sits inside “prodiguer”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60323, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

prodigue is recorded at frequency rank #26,483, classified as anadj, pronounced \pʁɔ.diɡ\. prodiguer is at rank #33,840, tagged as averb, pronounced \pʁɔ.di.ɡe\.

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 60323, this pair ranks #98,206 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of prodigue vs prodiguer

Shared letters: degiopru. Private to "prodigue": -. Private to "prodiguer": -.

"prodigue" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVV  ·  "prodiguer" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • prodiguepordigue · pprodigue · prdoigue · proddigue · prodgiue · prodigeu · prodiggue · prodiuge
  • prodiguerpordiguer · pprodiguer · prdoiguer · proddiguer · prodgiuer · prodigeur · prodigguer · prodiguerr

Frequency comparison

prodigue#26,483
prodiguer#33,840

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "prodigue" and "prodiguer" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "prodigue" is an adjective and "prodiguer" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "prodigue" or "prodiguer"?
"prodigue" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,483 in our French list, against #33,840 for "prodiguer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering prodigue vs prodiguer

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “prodigue”; for a verb, it's “prodiguer”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “prodigue” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list