devenaientvsdevenaitWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#23,832
“devenaient” frequency rank
#9,468
“devenait” frequency rank
33300
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature devenaient devenait
Definition Troisième personne du pluriel de l’imparfait de devenir. Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de devenir.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set devenaient and devenait apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
devenaient
8 ch
devenait

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. devenaient and devenait are pronounced identically (\də.və.nɛ\) and both work as averb. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33300, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

devenaient is recorded at frequency rank #23,832, classified as averb, pronounced \də.və.nɛ\. devenait is at rank #9,468, tagged as averb, pronounced \də.və.nɛ\.

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 33300, this pair ranks #291,568 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of devenaient vs devenait

Shared letters: adeintv. Private to "devenaient": -. Private to "devenait": -.

"devenaient" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVVVCC  ·  "devenait" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • devenaientddevenaient · deevnaient · deveanient · devenaeint · devenaiennt · devenaientt · devenaietn · devenainet
  • devenaitddevenait · deevnait · deveanit · devenaitt · devenati · deveniat · devennait · devneait

Frequency comparison

devenaient#23,832
devenait#9,468

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "devenaient" and "devenait" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\də.və.nɛ\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Which is more common, "devenaient" or "devenait"?
"devenait" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,468 in our French list, against #23,832 for "devenaient". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering devenaient vs devenait

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 “devenaient” 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