Which to use
“achetait” and “arrêtait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #27,677
- “achetait” frequency rank
- #13,512
- “arrêtait” frequency rank
- 41189
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | achetait | arrêtait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif imparfait du verbe acheter. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif imparfait du verbe arrêter. |
Where the eye mixes achetait and arrêtait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. achetait and arrêtait follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: achetait vs arrêtait
A purely visual mix-up. achetait (\a.ʃə.tɛ\) and arrêtait (\a.ʁɛ.tɛ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41189, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
achetait is recorded at frequency rank #27,677, classified as averb, pronounced \a.ʃə.tɛ\. arrêtait is at rank #13,512, tagged as averb, pronounced \a.ʁɛ.tɛ\.
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 41189, this pair ranks #234,949 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of achetait vs arrêtait
Shared letters: ait. Private to "achetait": ceh. Private to "arrêtait": rê.
"achetait" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVVC · "arrêtait" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- achetait ← acchetait · acehtait · acheatit · achetaitt · achetati · achetiat · achettait · achhetait
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "achetait" and "arrêtait" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "achetait" or "arrêtait" show up more?
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 "achetait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "arrêtait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #234,949 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "achetait" and "arrêtait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "achetait vs achevant". 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 #234,949 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.