Which to use
“développent” and “développer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,843
- “développent” frequency rank
- #1,812
- “développer” frequency rank
- 10655
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | développent | développer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de développer. | Dégager une chose de ce qui l’enveloppe. |
Where the eye mixes développent and développer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. développent runs 11 letters (CVCVCVCCVCC) against développer's 10 (CVCVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses développent with développer
A purely visual mix-up. développent (\de.vlɔp\) and développer (\dɛv.lɔ.pe\) 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 10655, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
développent is recorded at frequency rank #8,843, classified as averb, pronounced \de.vlɔp\. développer is at rank #1,812, tagged as averb, pronounced \dɛv.lɔ.pe\.
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 10655, this pair ranks #412,154 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of développent vs développer
Shared letters: delopvé. Private to "développent": nt. Private to "développer": r.
"développent" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCVCCVCC · "développer" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "développent" and "développer" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "développent" or "développer"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "développent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "développer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #412,154 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "développent" and "développer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "développait vs développent". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #412,154 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.