détruisevsdétruiteTell them apart

Which to use

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

#43,909
“détruise” frequency rank
#8,539
“détruite” frequency rank
52448
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature détruise détruite
Definition Première personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif de détruire. Participe passé féminin singulier de détruire.

Where the eye mixes détruise and détruite

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

8 ch
détruise
8 ch
détruite

Visual trap between détruise and détruite

A purely visual mix-up. détruise (\de.tʁɥiz\) and détruite (\de.tʁɥit\) 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 - s in “détruise” becomes t in “détruite”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52448, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

détruise is recorded at frequency rank #43,909, classified as averb, pronounced \de.tʁɥiz\. détruite is at rank #8,539, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.tʁɥit\.

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 52448, this pair ranks #147,638 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of détruise vs détruite

Shared letters: deirtué. Private to "détruise": s. Private to "détruite": -.

"détruise" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV  ·  "détruite" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "détruise" and "détruite" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\de.tʁɥiz\ versus \de.tʁɥit\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "détruise" or "détruite"?
"détruite" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,539 in our French list, against #43,909 for "détruise". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "détruise" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "détruite" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #147,638 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "détruise" and "détruite" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "détruis vs détruise". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #147,638 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