Which to use
“achetaient” and “achètent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #42,141
- “achetaient” frequency rank
- #10,436
- “achètent” frequency rank
- 52577
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | achetaient | achètent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif imparfait du verbe acheter. | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent du verbe acheter. |
Where the eye mixes achetaient and achètent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. achetaient runs 10 letters (VCCVCVVVCC) against achètent's 8 (VCCVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between achetaient and achètent
A purely visual mix-up. achetaient (\a.ʃə.tɛ\) and achètent (\a.ʃɛt\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52577, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
achetaient is recorded at frequency rank #42,141, classified as averb, pronounced \a.ʃə.tɛ\. achètent is at rank #10,436, tagged as averb, pronounced \a.ʃɛt\.
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 52577, this pair ranks #146,738 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of achetaient vs achètent
Shared letters: acehnt. Private to "achetaient": i. Private to "achètent": è.
"achetaient" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVVVCC · "achètent" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- achetaient ← acchetaient · acehtaient · acheatient · achetaeint · achetaiennt · achetaientt · achetaietn · achetainet
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "achetaient" for "achètent" ever safe?
Which is more common, "achetaient" or "achètent"?
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 "achetaient" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "achètent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #146,738 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "achetaient" and "achètent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "achetaient vs achetais". 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 #146,738 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.