développavsdéveloppaitWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“développa” and “développait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#31,469
“développa” frequency rank
#38,263
“développait” frequency rank
69732
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature développa développait
Definition Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de développer. Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de développer.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set développa and développait apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
développa
11 ch
développait

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. développa (\de.vlɔ.pa\) and développait (\de.vlɔ.pɛ\) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “développa” sits inside “développait”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69732, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

développa is recorded at frequency rank #31,469, classified as averb, pronounced \de.vlɔ.pa\. développait is at rank #38,263, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.vlɔ.pɛ\.

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 69732, this pair ranks #54,028 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of développa vs développait

Shared letters: adelopvé. Private to "développa": -. Private to "développait": it.

"développa" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCCV  ·  "développait" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCVCCVVC

Frequency comparison

développa#31,469
développait#38,263

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "développa" and "développait" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\de.vlɔ.pa\ versus \de.vlɔ.pɛ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "développa" or "développait"?
"développa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,469 in our French list, against #38,263 for "développait". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering développa vs développait

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “développa” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list