Which to use
“arrêta” and “arrêtait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,359
- “arrêta” frequency rank
- #13,512
- “arrêtait” frequency rank
- 33871
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | arrêta | arrêtait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple du verbe arrêter. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif imparfait du verbe arrêter. |
Where the eye mixes arrêta and arrêtait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. arrêta runs 6 letters (VCCVCV) against arrêtait'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 arrêtait
A purely visual mix-up. arrêta (\a.ʁɛ.ta\) 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 differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “arrêta” sits inside “arrêtait”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33871, 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\. 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 33871, this pair ranks #287,728 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of arrêta vs arrêtait
Shared letters: artê. Private to "arrêta": -. Private to "arrêtait": i.
"arrêta" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV · "arrêtait" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "arrêta" and "arrêtait" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "arrêta" or "arrêtait"?
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 "arrêta" 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 #287,728 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "arrêta" and "arrêtait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "arrêta vs arrêtais". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #287,728 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.