Which to use
“développait” and “développent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,263
- “développait” frequency rank
- #8,843
- “développent” frequency rank
- 47106
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | développait | développent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de développer. | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de développer. |
Where the eye mixes développait and développent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. développait (CVCVCVCCVVC) and développent (CVCVCVCCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: développait vs développent
A purely visual mix-up. développait (\de.vlɔ.pɛ\) and développent (\de.vlɔp\) 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 47106, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
développait is recorded at frequency rank #38,263, classified as averb, pronounced \de.vlɔ.pɛ\. développent is at rank #8,843, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.vlɔp\.
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 47106, this pair ranks #189,577 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of développait vs développent
Shared letters: deloptvé. Private to "développait": ai. Private to "développent": n.
"développait" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCVCCVVC · "développent" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCVCCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "développait" for "développent" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "développait" or "développent" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "développait" and "développent" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "développait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "développent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #189,577 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "développait" and "développent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "développa vs développait". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #189,577 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.