Which to use
“devait” and “devrai” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #871
- “devait” frequency rank
- #14,008
- “devrai” frequency rank
- 14879
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | devait | devrai |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de devoir. | Première personne du singulier du futur de devoir. |
Where the eye mixes devait and devrai
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between devait and devrai
A purely visual mix-up. devait (\də.vɛ\) and devrai (\də.vʁe\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14879, 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\. devrai is at rank #14,008, tagged as averb, pronounced \də.vʁe\.
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 14879, this pair ranks #394,816 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of devait vs devrai
Shared letters: adeiv. Private to "devait": t. Private to "devrai": r.
"devait" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "devrai" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "devait" for "devrai" ever safe?
Which is more common, "devait" or "devrai"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "devait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "devrai" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #394,816 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "devait" and "devrai" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Debra vs devrai". 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 #394,816 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.