Which to use
“arrêtais” and “arrêtons” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #33,981
- “arrêtais” frequency rank
- #13,324
- “arrêtons” frequency rank
- 47305
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | arrêtais | arrêtons |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif imparfait du verbe arrêter. | Première personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent du verbe arrêter. |
Where the eye mixes arrêtais and arrêtons
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. arrêtais (VCCVCVVC) and arrêtons (VCCVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between arrêtais and arrêtons
A purely visual mix-up. arrêtais (\a.ʁɛ.tɛ\) and arrêtons (\a.ʁɛ.tɔ̃\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47305, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
arrêtais is recorded at frequency rank #33,981, classified as averb, pronounced \a.ʁɛ.tɛ\. arrêtons is at rank #13,324, tagged as averb, pronounced \a.ʁɛ.tɔ̃\.
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 47305, this pair ranks #188,004 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of arrêtais vs arrêtons
Shared letters: arstê. Private to "arrêtais": i. Private to "arrêtons": no.
"arrêtais" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVVC · "arrêtons" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "arrêtais" and "arrêtons" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "arrêtais" vs "arrêtons" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "arrêtais" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "arrêtons" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #188,004 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "arrêtais" and "arrêtons" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "arrêtais vs arrêterais". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #188,004 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.