Which to use
“devait” and “devoir” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #871
- “devait” frequency rank
- #843
- “devoir” frequency rank
- 1714
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | devait | devoir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de devoir. | Avoir à payer une somme d’argent, à rendre ou à donner quelque chose que ce soit. |
Where the eye mixes devait and devoir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: devait vs devoir
A purely visual mix-up. devait (\də.vɛ\) and devoir (\də.vwaʁ\) 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 1714, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
devait is recorded at frequency rank #871, classified as averb, pronounced \də.vɛ\. devoir is at rank #843, tagged as averb, pronounced \də.vwaʁ\.
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 1714, this pair ranks #437,529 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of devait vs devoir
Shared letters: deiv. Private to "devait": at. Private to "devoir": or.
"devait" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "devoir" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "devait" for "devoir" ever safe?
Which is more common, "devait" or "devoir"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "devait" and "devoir" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "devait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "devoir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #437,529 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "devait" and "devoir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "devait 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 #437,529 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.