découvrevsdécouvrentWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,773
“découvre” frequency rank
#9,986
“découvrent” frequency rank
12759
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature découvre découvrent
Definition Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de découvrir. Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de découvrir.

Where the spellings diverge

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

8 ch
découvre
10 ch
découvrent

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. découvre and découvrent are pronounced identically (\de.kuvʁ\) and both work as averb. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “découvre” sits inside “découvrent”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12759, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

découvre is recorded at frequency rank #2,773, classified as averb, pronounced \de.kuvʁ\. 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 12759, this pair ranks #403,882 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of découvre vs découvrent

Shared letters: cdeoruvé. Private to "découvre": -. Private to "découvrent": nt.

"découvre" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCCV  ·  "découvrent" · 10 letters · shape CVCVVCCVCC

Frequency comparison

découvre#2,773
découvrent#9,986

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "découvre" and "découvrent" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\de.kuvʁ\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Which is more common, "découvre" or "découvrent"?
"découvre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,773 in our French list, against #9,986 for "découvrent". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering découvre vs découvrent

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 “découvre” 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