Which to use
“déplaît” and “devait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,189
- “déplaît” frequency rank
- #871
- “devait” frequency rank
- 24060
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | déplaît | devait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de déplaire. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de devoir. |
Where the eye mixes déplaît and devait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. déplaît runs 7 letters (CVCCVVC) against devait's 6 (CVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: déplaît vs devait
A purely visual mix-up. déplaît (\de.plɛ\) and devait (\də.vɛ\) 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 24060, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
déplaît is recorded at frequency rank #23,189, classified as averb, pronounced \de.plɛ\. devait is at rank #871, tagged as averb, pronounced \də.vɛ\.
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 24060, this pair ranks #348,878 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of déplaît vs devait
Shared letters: adt. Private to "déplaît": lpéî. Private to "devait": eiv.
"déplaît" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "devait" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- devait ← ddevait · deavit · devaitt · devati · deviat · devvait · dveait · edvait
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "déplaît" and "devait" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "déplaît" vs "devait" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "déplaît" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "devait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #348,878 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "déplaît" and "devait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "déplaît vs déposait". 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 #348,878 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.