Which to use
“découvrait” and “découvrent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #30,987
- “découvrait” frequency rank
- #9,986
- “découvrent” frequency rank
- 40973
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | découvrait | découvrent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de découvrir. | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de découvrir. |
Where the eye mixes découvrait and découvrent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. découvrait (CVCVVCCVVC) and découvrent (CVCVVCCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between découvrait and découvrent
A purely visual mix-up. découvrait (\de.ku.vʁɛ\) and découvrent (\de.kuvʁ\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40973, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
découvrait is recorded at frequency rank #30,987, classified as averb, pronounced \de.ku.vʁɛ\. découvrent is at rank #9,986, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.kuvʁ\.
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 40973, this pair ranks #236,545 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of découvrait vs découvrent
Shared letters: cdortuvé. Private to "découvrait": ai. Private to "découvrent": en.
"découvrait" · 10 letters · shape CVCVVCCVVC · "découvrent" · 10 letters · shape CVCVVCCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "découvrait" for "découvrent" ever safe?
Which is more common, "découvrait" or "découvrent"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "découvrait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "découvrent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #236,545 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "découvrait" and "découvrent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "découvrais vs découvrait". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #236,545 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.