dévolue vs dévolues, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#38,775
“dévolue” frequency rank: #46,133
“dévolues” frequency rank: 84908
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	dévolue	dévolues
Definition	Féminin singulier de dévolu.	Féminin pluriel de dévolu.

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch

dévolue

8 ch

dévolues

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. dévolue and dévolues are pronounced identically (\de.vɔ.ly\) and both work as anadjective. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “dévolue” sits inside “dévolues”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 84908, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dévolue is recorded at frequency rank #38,775, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.vɔ.ly\. dévolues is at rank #46,133, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.vɔ.ly\.

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 84908, this pair ranks #12,184 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of dévolue vs dévolues

Shared letters: delouvé. Private to "dévolue": -. Private to "dévolues": s.

"dévolue" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV · "dévolues" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC

Frequency comparison

dévolue#38,775

dévolues#46,133

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dévolue" and "dévolues" be used interchangeably?

No. They are pronounced the same (\de.vɔ.ly\), 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, "dévolue" or "dévolues"?

"dévolue" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,775 in our French list, against #46,133 for "dévolues". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dévolue vs dévolues

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 “dévolue” entry
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