Which to use
“devrait” and “durait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #413
- “devrait” frequency rank
- #28,523
- “durait” frequency rank
- 28936
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | devrait | durait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du conditionnel de devoir. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de durer. |
Where the eye mixes devrait and durait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: devrait vs durait
A purely visual mix-up. devrait (\də.vʁɛ\) and durait (\dy.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 28936, 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\. durait is at rank #28,523, tagged as averb, pronounced \dy.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 28936, this pair ranks #319,726 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of devrait vs durait
Shared letters: adirt. Private to "devrait": ev. Private to "durait": u.
"devrait" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "durait" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "devrait" and "durait" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "devrait" or "durait"?
After this comparison
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 "durait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #319,726 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "devrait" and "durait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "durait vs durerait". 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 #319,726 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.