Which to use
“arrêta” and “arrêtais” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,359
- “arrêta” frequency rank
- #33,981
- “arrêtais” frequency rank
- 54340
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | arrêta | arrêtais |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple du verbe arrêter. | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif imparfait du verbe arrêter. |
Where the eye mixes arrêta and arrêtais
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. arrêta runs 6 letters (VCCVCV) against arrêtais's 8 (VCCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses arrêta with arrêtais
A purely visual mix-up. arrêta (\a.ʁɛ.ta\) and arrêtais (\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 differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “arrêta” sits inside “arrêtais”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54340, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
arrêta is recorded at frequency rank #20,359, classified as averb, pronounced \a.ʁɛ.ta\. arrêtais is at rank #33,981, 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 54340, this pair ranks #134,697 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of arrêta vs arrêtais
Shared letters: artê. Private to "arrêta": -. Private to "arrêtais": is.
"arrêta" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV · "arrêtais" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "arrêta" and "arrêtais" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "arrêta" or "arrêtais" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "arrêta" and "arrêtais" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "arrêta" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "arrêtais" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #134,697 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "arrêta" and "arrêtais" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "arrêtais vs arrêterais". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #134,697 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.