détruiravsdétruireTell them apart

Which to use

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

#35,916
“détruira” frequency rank
#2,774
“détruire” frequency rank
38690
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature détruira détruire
Definition Troisième personne du singulier du futur de détruire. Démolir, ruiner, en parlant d'un édifice, d'une construction.

Where the eye mixes détruira and détruire

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. détruira and détruire follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
détruira
8 ch
détruire

Look-alike desk: détruira vs détruire

A purely visual mix-up. détruira (\de.tʁɥi.ʁa\) and détruire (\de.tʁɥiʁ\) 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 a single letter - a in “détruira” becomes e in “détruire”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38690, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

détruira is recorded at frequency rank #35,916, classified as averb, pronounced \de.tʁɥi.ʁa\. détruire is at rank #2,774, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.tʁɥiʁ\.

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 38690, this pair ranks #253,492 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of détruira vs détruire

Shared letters: dirtué. Private to "détruira": a. Private to "détruire": e.

"détruira" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV  ·  "détruire" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "détruira" for "détruire" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\de.tʁɥi.ʁa\ versus \de.tʁɥiʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "détruira" or "détruire"?
"détruire" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,774 in our French list, against #35,916 for "détruira". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "détruira" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "détruire" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #253,492 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "détruira" and "détruire" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "détruira vs détruise". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #253,492 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list