devenaitvsdevenantWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,468
“devenait” frequency rank
#8,691
“devenant” frequency rank
18159
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature devenait devenant
Definition Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de devenir. Participe présent de devenir.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set devenait and devenant apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
devenait
8 ch
devenant

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. devenait (\də.və.nɛ\) and devenant (\də.və.nɑ̃\) 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 a single letter - i in “devenait” becomes n in “devenant”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18159, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

devenait is recorded at frequency rank #9,468, classified as averb, pronounced \də.və.nɛ\. devenant is at rank #8,691, tagged as averb, pronounced \də.və.nɑ̃\.

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 18159, this pair ranks #379,710 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of devenait vs devenant

Shared letters: adentv. Private to "devenait": i. Private to "devenant": -.

"devenait" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC  ·  "devenant" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • devenaitddevenait · deevnait · deveanit · devenaitt · devenati · deveniat · devennait · devneait
  • devenantddevenant · deevnant · deveannt · devenannt · devenantt · devenatn · devennant · devennat

Frequency comparison

devenait#9,468
devenant#8,691

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "devenait" and "devenant" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\də.və.nɛ\ versus \də.və.nɑ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "devenait" or "devenant"?
"devenant" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,691 in our French list, against #9,468 for "devenait". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering devenait vs devenant

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 “devenait” 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