Which to use
“devin” is a noun and “devoir” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,977
- “devin” frequency rank
- #843
- “devoir” frequency rank
- 21820
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | devin | devoir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Homme qui prétend prédire les évènements qui arriveront et découvrir les choses cachées. | Avoir à payer une somme d’argent, à rendre ou à donner quelque chose que ce soit. |
Where the eye mixes devin and devoir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses devin with devoir
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: devin is \də.vɛ̃\ while devoir is \də.vwaʁ\. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21820, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
devin is recorded at frequency rank #20,977, classified as anoun, pronounced \də.vɛ̃\. devoir is at rank #843, tagged as averb, pronounced \də.vwaʁ\.
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 21820, this pair ranks #361,258 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of devin vs devoir
Shared letters: deiv. Private to "devin": n. Private to "devoir": or.
"devin" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "devoir" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "devin" and "devoir" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "devin" vs "devoir" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "devin" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "devoir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #361,258 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "devin" and "devoir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "denim vs devin". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #361,258 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.