déçoisvsdevoirWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#30,584
“déçois” frequency rank
#843
“devoir” frequency rank
31427
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature déçois devoir
Definition Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de décevoir. Avoir à payer une somme d’argent, à rendre ou à donner quelque chose que ce soit.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set déçois and devoir apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
déçois
6 ch
devoir

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. déçois (\de.swa\) and devoir (\də.vwaʁ\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31427, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

déçois is recorded at frequency rank #30,584, classified as averb, pronounced \de.swa\. devoir is at rank #843, tagged as averb, pronounced \də.vwaʁ\.

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 31427, this pair ranks #303,849 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of déçois vs devoir

Shared letters: dio. Private to "déçois": sçé. Private to "devoir": erv.

"déçois" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "devoir" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • devoirddevoir · deovir · devior · devoirr · devori · devvoir · dveoir · edvoir

Frequency comparison

déçois#30,584
devoir#843

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "déçois" and "devoir" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\de.swa\ versus \də.vwaʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "déçois" or "devoir"?
"devoir" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #843 in our French list, against #30,584 for "déçois". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering déçois vs devoir

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “déçois” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list