Which to use
“détient” and “devaient” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,432
- “détient” frequency rank
- #3,249
- “devaient” frequency rank
- 10681
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | détient | devaient |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de détenir. | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’imparfait de devoir. |
Where the eye mixes détient and devaient
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: détient vs devaient
A purely visual mix-up. détient (\de.tjɛ̃\) and devaient (\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 10681, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
détient is recorded at frequency rank #7,432, classified as averb, pronounced \de.tjɛ̃\. devaient is at rank #3,249, 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 10681, this pair ranks #412,044 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of détient vs devaient
Shared letters: deint. Private to "détient": é. Private to "devaient": av.
"détient" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC · "devaient" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- devaient ← ddevaient · deavient · devaeint · devaiennt · devaientt · devaietn · devainet · deviaent
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "détient" for "devaient" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "détient" or "devaient" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "détient" and "devaient" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "détient" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "devaient" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #412,044 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "détient" and "devaient" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décadent vs devaient". 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 #412,044 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.