Which to use
“déroula” and “déroulait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #47,858
- “déroula” frequency rank
- #22,834
- “déroulait” frequency rank
- 70692
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | déroula | déroulait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de dérouler. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de dérouler. |
Where the eye mixes déroula and déroulait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. déroula runs 7 letters (CVCVVCV) against déroulait's 9 (CVCVVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between déroula and déroulait
A purely visual mix-up. déroula (\de.ʁu.la\) and déroulait (\de.ʁu.lɛ\) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “déroula” sits inside “déroulait”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70692, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
déroula is recorded at frequency rank #47,858, classified as averb, pronounced \de.ʁu.la\. déroulait is at rank #22,834, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.ʁu.lɛ\.
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 70692, this pair ranks #50,401 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of déroula vs déroulait
Shared letters: adlorué. Private to "déroula": -. Private to "déroulait": it.
"déroula" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV · "déroulait" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "déroula" and "déroulait" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "déroula" or "déroulait" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "déroula" and "déroulait" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "déroula" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "déroulait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #50,401 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "déroula" and "déroulait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "défoule vs déroula". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #50,401 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.