Which to use
“aient” and “aillent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,108
- “aient” frequency rank
- #13,955
- “aillent” frequency rank
- 16063
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | aient | aillent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent du subjonctif de avoir. | Troisième personne du pluriel du subjonctif présent du verbe aller. |
Where the eye mixes aient and aillent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. aient runs 5 letters (VVVCC) against aillent's 7 (VVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: aient vs aillent
A purely visual mix-up. aient (\ɛ\) and aillent (\aj\) 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 16063, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
aient is recorded at frequency rank #2,108, classified as averb, pronounced \ɛ\. aillent is at rank #13,955, tagged as averb, pronounced \aj\.
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 16063, this pair ranks #389,559 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of aient vs aillent
Shared letters: aeint. Private to "aient": -. Private to "aillent": l.
"aient" · 5 letters · shape VVVCC · "aillent" · 7 letters · shape VVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "aient" and "aillent" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "aient" or "aillent" 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 "aient" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "aillent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #389,559 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "aient" and "aillent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aillent vs avalent". 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 #389,559 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.