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 eye mixes développa and développait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. développa runs 9 letters (CVCVCVCCV) against développait's 11 (CVCVCVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: développa vs développait
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
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "développa" for "développait" ever safe?
Frequency check: "développa" vs "développait" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "développa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "développait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #54,028 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "développa" and "développait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "développa vs développera". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #54,028 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.