détruisvsdétruitConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#42,847
“détruis” frequency rank
#2,875
“détruit” frequency rank
45722
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature détruis détruit
Definition Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de détruire. Participe passé masculin singulier de détruire.

Same sound, different letters: détruis vs détruit

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. détruis and détruit follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
détruis
7 ch
détruit

Homophone desk: détruis vs détruit

This is the hard kind. détruis and détruit are pronounced identically (\de.tʁɥi\) and both work as averb. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by a single letter - s in “détruis” becomes t in “détruit”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45722, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

détruis is recorded at frequency rank #42,847, classified as averb, pronounced \de.tʁɥi\. détruit is at rank #2,875, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.tʁɥi\.

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 45722, this pair ranks #200,530 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of détruis vs détruit

Shared letters: dirtué. Private to "détruis": s. Private to "détruit": -.

"détruis" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC  ·  "détruit" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "détruis" and "détruit" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\de.tʁɥi\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
In ordinary French text, does "détruis" or "détruit" show up more?
"détruit" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,875 in our French list, against #42,847 for "détruis". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

"détruis" and "détruit" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.

  • Full dictionary entry for "détruis" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "détruit" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #200,530 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "détruis" and "détruit" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "détruis vs détruise". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #200,530 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