Which to use
“déçoit” and “devait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,529
- “déçoit” frequency rank
- #871
- “devait” frequency rank
- 24400
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | déçoit | devait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de décevoir. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de devoir. |
Where the eye mixes déçoit and devait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. déçoit and devait follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: déçoit vs devait
A purely visual mix-up. déçoit (\de.swa\) and devait (\də.vɛ\) 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 24400, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
déçoit is recorded at frequency rank #23,529, classified as averb, pronounced \de.swa\. devait is at rank #871, tagged as averb, pronounced \də.vɛ\.
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 24400, this pair ranks #346,827 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of déçoit vs devait
Shared letters: dit. Private to "déçoit": oçé. Private to "devait": aev.
"déçoit" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "devait" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- devait ← ddevait · deavit · devaitt · devati · deviat · devvait · dveait · edvait
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "déçoit" for "devait" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "déçoit" or "devait" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "déçoit" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "devait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #346,827 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "déçoit" and "devait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "déçoit vs démolit". 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 #346,827 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.