Which to use
“découvre” and “découvrit” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,773
- “découvre” frequency rank
- #19,816
- “découvrit” frequency rank
- 22589
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | découvre | découvrit |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de découvrir. | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de découvrir. |
Where the eye mixes découvre and découvrit
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. découvre runs 8 letters (CVCVVCCV) against découvrit's 9 (CVCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between découvre and découvrit
A purely visual mix-up. découvre (\de.kuvʁ\) and découvrit (\de.ku.vʁi\) 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 22589, 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\. découvrit is at rank #19,816, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.ku.vʁi\.
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 22589, this pair ranks #357,166 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of découvre vs découvrit
Shared letters: cdoruvé. Private to "découvre": e. Private to "découvrit": it.
"découvre" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCCV · "découvrit" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "découvre" for "découvrit" ever safe?
Frequency check: "découvre" vs "découvrit" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "découvre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "découvrit" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #357,166 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "découvre" and "découvrit" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "découvrais vs découvrit". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #357,166 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.