Which to use
“devaient” and “disaient” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,249
- “devaient” frequency rank
- #6,808
- “disaient” frequency rank
- 10057
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | devaient | disaient |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’imparfait de devoir. | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’imparfait de dire. |
Where the eye mixes devaient and disaient
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses devaient with disaient
A purely visual mix-up. devaient (\də.vɛ\) and disaient (\di.zɛ\) 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 10057, 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\. disaient is at rank #6,808, tagged as averb, pronounced \di.zɛ\.
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 10057, this pair ranks #414,371 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of devaient vs disaient
Shared letters: adeint. Private to "devaient": v. Private to "disaient": s.
"devaient" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVVCC · "disaient" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "devaient" for "disaient" ever safe?
Which is more common, "devaient" or "disaient"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "devaient" and "disaient" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "devaient" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "disaient" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #414,371 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "devaient" and "disaient" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dansaient vs disaient". 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 #414,371 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.