Which to use
“devais” and “disais” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,910
- “devais” frequency rank
- #2,771
- “disais” frequency rank
- 6681
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | devais | disais |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’imparfait de devoir. | Première personne du singulier de l’imparfait de dire. |
Where the eye mixes devais and disais
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between devais and disais
A purely visual mix-up. devais (\də.vɛ\) and disais (\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 6681, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
devais is recorded at frequency rank #3,910, classified as averb, pronounced \də.vɛ\. disais is at rank #2,771, 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 6681, this pair ranks #425,549 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of devais vs disais
Shared letters: adis. Private to "devais": ev. Private to "disais": -.
"devais" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "disais" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "devais" and "disais" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "devais" or "disais"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "devais" and "disais" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "devais" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "disais" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #425,549 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "devais" and "disais" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "devais vs Devaux". 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 #425,549 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.