Which to use
“devaient” and “diraient” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,249
- “devaient” frequency rank
- #22,229
- “diraient” frequency rank
- 25478
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | devaient | diraient |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’imparfait de devoir. | Troisième personne du pluriel du conditionnel de dire. |
Where the eye mixes devaient and diraient
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: devaient vs diraient
A purely visual mix-up. devaient (\də.vɛ\) and diraient (\di.ʁɛ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25478, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
devaient is recorded at frequency rank #3,249, classified as averb, pronounced \də.vɛ\. diraient is at rank #22,229, tagged as averb, pronounced \di.ʁɛ\.
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 25478, this pair ranks #340,624 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of devaient vs diraient
Shared letters: adeint. Private to "devaient": v. Private to "diraient": r.
"devaient" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVVCC · "diraient" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "devaient" and "diraient" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "devaient" vs "diraient" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "devaient" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "diraient" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #340,624 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "devaient" and "diraient" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "désiraient vs diraient". 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 #340,624 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.