Which to use
“découvrait” and “découvrir” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #30,987
- “découvrait” frequency rank
- #1,328
- “découvrir” frequency rank
- 32315
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | découvrait | découvrir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de découvrir. | Dégarnir de ce qui couvrait. |
Where the eye mixes découvrait and découvrir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. découvrait runs 10 letters (CVCVVCCVVC) against découvrir's 9 (CVCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between découvrait and découvrir
A purely visual mix-up. découvrait (\de.ku.vʁɛ\) and découvrir (\de.ku.vʁiʁ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32315, 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\. découvrir is at rank #1,328, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.ku.vʁiʁ\.
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 32315, this pair ranks #298,064 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of découvrait vs découvrir
Shared letters: cdioruvé. Private to "découvrait": at. Private to "découvrir": -.
"découvrait" · 10 letters · shape CVCVVCCVVC · "découvrir" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "découvrait" and "découvrir" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "découvrait" or "découvrir" show up more?
What to do next
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 "découvrir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #298,064 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "découvrait" and "découvrir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "découvrais vs découvrait". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #298,064 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.