Which to use
“devait” and “devrais” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #871
- “devait” frequency rank
- #2,273
- “devrais” frequency rank
- 3144
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | devait | devrais |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de devoir. | Première personne du singulier du conditionnel de devoir. |
Where the eye mixes devait and devrais
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between devait and devrais
A purely visual mix-up. devait (\də.vɛ\) and devrais (\də.vʁɛ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3144, 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\. devrais is at rank #2,273, tagged as averb, pronounced \də.vʁɛ\.
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 3144, this pair ranks #434,691 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of devait vs devrais
Shared letters: adeiv. Private to "devait": t. Private to "devrais": rs.
"devait" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "devrais" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "devait" for "devrais" ever safe?
Frequency check: "devait" vs "devrais" - which ranks higher?
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 "devrais" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #434,691 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "devait" and "devrais" 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 #434,691 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.