déménagentvsdevenaientWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#37,778
“déménagent” frequency rank
#23,832
“devenaient” frequency rank
61610
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature déménagent devenaient
Definition Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif du verbe déménager. Troisième personne du pluriel de l’imparfait de devenir.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set déménagent and devenaient apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
déménagent
10 ch
devenaient

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. déménagent (\de.me.naʒ\) and devenaient (\də.və.nɛ\) 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 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61610, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

déménagent is recorded at frequency rank #37,778, classified as averb, pronounced \de.me.naʒ\. devenaient is at rank #23,832, tagged as averb, pronounced \də.və.nɛ\.

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 61610, this pair ranks #91,358 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of déménagent vs devenaient

Shared letters: adent. Private to "déménagent": gmé. Private to "devenaient": iv.

"déménagent" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVCVCC  ·  "devenaient" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • devenaientddevenaient · deevnaient · deveanient · devenaeint · devenaiennt · devenaientt · devenaietn · devenainet

Frequency comparison

déménagent#37,778
devenaient#23,832

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "déménagent" and "devenaient" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\de.me.naʒ\ versus \də.və.nɛ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "déménagent" or "devenaient"?
"devenaient" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,832 in our French list, against #37,778 for "déménagent". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering déménagent vs devenaient

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 “déménagent” 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