Which to use
“défilent” and “devient” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,122
- “défilent” frequency rank
- #683
- “devient” frequency rank
- 20805
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | défilent | devient |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de défiler. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de devenir. |
Where the eye mixes défilent and devient
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. défilent runs 8 letters (CVCVCVCC) against devient's 7 (CVCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses défilent with devient
A purely visual mix-up. défilent (\de.fil\) and devient (\də.vjɛ̃\) 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 20805, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
défilent is recorded at frequency rank #20,122, classified as averb, pronounced \de.fil\. devient is at rank #683, tagged as averb, pronounced \də.vjɛ̃\.
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 20805, this pair ranks #366,405 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of défilent vs devient
Shared letters: deint. Private to "défilent": flé. Private to "devient": v.
"défilent" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC · "devient" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- devient ← ddevient · deivent · deveint · deviennt · devientt · devietn · devinet · devvient
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "défilent" and "devient" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "défilent" or "devient" 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 "défilent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "devient" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #366,405 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "défilent" and "devient" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "défilement vs défilent". 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 #366,405 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.