déviantsvsdevionsWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: déviants is a adjective, devions is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“déviants” is an adjective and “devions” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#49,055
“déviants” frequency rank
#17,110
“devions” frequency rank
66165
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature déviants devions
Definition Masculin pluriel de déviant. Première personne du pluriel de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de devoir.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set déviants and devions apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
déviants
7 ch
devions

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: déviants is \de.vjɑ̃\ while devions is \də.vjɔ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66165, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

déviants is recorded at frequency rank #49,055, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.vjɑ̃\. devions is at rank #17,110, tagged as averb, pronounced \də.vjɔ̃\.

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 66165, this pair ranks #68,996 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of déviants vs devions

Shared letters: dinsv. Private to "déviants": até. Private to "devions": eo.

"déviants" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCCC  ·  "devions" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • devionsddevions · deivons · devinos · devionns · devionss · deviosn · devoins · devvions

Frequency comparison

déviants#49,055
devions#17,110

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "déviants" and "devions" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "déviants" is an adjective and "devions" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "déviants" or "devions"?
"devions" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,110 in our French list, against #49,055 for "déviants". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering déviants vs devions

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “déviants”; for a verb, it's “devions”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “déviants” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list