appréciaientvsapprécientWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“appréciaient” and “apprécient” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#48,338
“appréciaient” frequency rank
#12,904
“apprécient” frequency rank
61242
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature appréciaient apprécient
Definition Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif imparfait du verbe apprécier. Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent du verbe apprécier.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set appréciaient and apprécient apart are highlighted. They share 10 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

12 ch
appréciaient
10 ch
apprécient

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. appréciaient (\a.pʁe.sjɛ\) and apprécient (\a.pʁe.si\) 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 61242, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

appréciaient is recorded at frequency rank #48,338, classified as averb, pronounced \a.pʁe.sjɛ\. apprécient is at rank #12,904, tagged as averb, pronounced \a.pʁe.si\.

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 61242, this pair ranks #93,310 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of appréciaient vs apprécient

Shared letters: aceinprté. Private to "appréciaient": -. Private to "apprécient": -.

"appréciaient" · 12 letters · shape VCCCVCVVVVCC  ·  "apprécient" · 10 letters · shape VCCCVCVVCC

Frequency comparison

appréciaient#48,338
apprécient#12,904

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "appréciaient" and "apprécient" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\a.pʁe.sjɛ\ versus \a.pʁe.si\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "appréciaient" or "apprécient"?
"apprécient" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,904 in our French list, against #48,338 for "appréciaient". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering appréciaient vs apprécient

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “appréciaient” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list