Which to use
“devrait” and “dirait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #413
- “devrait” frequency rank
- #1,090
- “dirait” frequency rank
- 1503
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | devrait | dirait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du conditionnel de devoir. | Troisième personne du singulier du conditionnel de dire. |
Where the eye mixes devrait and dirait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses devrait with dirait
A purely visual mix-up. devrait (\də.vʁɛ\) and dirait (\di.ʁɛ\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1503, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
devrait is recorded at frequency rank #413, classified as averb, pronounced \də.vʁɛ\. dirait is at rank #1,090, tagged as averb, pronounced \di.ʁɛ\.
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 1503, this pair ranks #437,943 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of devrait vs dirait
Shared letters: adirt. Private to "devrait": ev. Private to "dirait": -.
"devrait" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "dirait" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "devrait" for "dirait" ever safe?
Which is more common, "devrait" or "dirait"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "devrait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dirait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #437,943 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "devrait" and "dirait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dévorant vs devrait". 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 #437,943 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.