dépendaientvsdevenaientWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#41,250
“dépendaient” frequency rank
#23,832
“devenaient” frequency rank
65082
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dépendaient devenaient
Definition Troisième personne du pluriel de l’imparfait de dépendre. Troisième personne du pluriel de l’imparfait de devenir.

Where the spellings diverge

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

11 ch
dépendaient
10 ch
devenaient

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. dépendaient (\de.pɑ̃.dɛ\) 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65082, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dépendaient is recorded at frequency rank #41,250, classified as averb, pronounced \de.pɑ̃.dɛ\. 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 65082, this pair ranks #73,927 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of dépendaient vs devenaient

Shared letters: adeint. Private to "dépendaient": . Private to "devenaient": v.

"dépendaient" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCVVVCC  ·  "devenaient" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

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

Frequency comparison

dépendaient#41,250
devenaient#23,832

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dépendaient" and "devenaient" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\de.pɑ̃.dɛ\ versus \də.və.nɛ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "dépendaient" or "devenaient"?
"devenaient" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,832 in our French list, against #41,250 for "dépendaient". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dépendaient 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 “dépendaient” 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