Which to use
“devait” and “durait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #871
- “devait” frequency rank
- #28,523
- “durait” frequency rank
- 29394
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | devait | durait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de devoir. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de durer. |
Where the eye mixes devait and durait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses devait with durait
A purely visual mix-up. devait (\də.vɛ\) and durait (\dy.ʁɛ\) 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 29394, 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\. durait is at rank #28,523, tagged as averb, pronounced \dy.ʁɛ\.
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 29394, this pair ranks #316,960 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of devait vs durait
Shared letters: adit. Private to "devait": ev. Private to "durait": ru.
"devait" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "durait" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "devait" and "durait" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "devait" or "durait" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "devait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "durait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #316,960 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "devait" and "durait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "durait vs durerait". 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 #316,960 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.