Which to use
“arrêtait” is a verb and “arrêtant” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,512
- “arrêtait” frequency rank
- #19,744
- “arrêtant” frequency rank
- 33256
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | arrêtait | arrêtant |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif imparfait du verbe arrêter. | Pièce de bois ou de métal pour arrêter le crochet, etc. |
Where the eye mixes arrêtait and arrêtant
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. arrêtait (VCCVCVVC) and arrêtant (VCCVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: arrêtait vs arrêtant
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: arrêtait is \a.ʁɛ.tɛ\ while arrêtant is \a.ʁɛ.tɑ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - i in “arrêtait” becomes n in “arrêtant”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33256, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
arrêtait is recorded at frequency rank #13,512, classified as averb, pronounced \a.ʁɛ.tɛ\. arrêtant is at rank #19,744, tagged as anoun, pronounced \a.ʁɛ.tɑ̃\.
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 33256, this pair ranks #291,837 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of arrêtait vs arrêtant
Shared letters: artê. Private to "arrêtait": i. Private to "arrêtant": n.
"arrêtait" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVVC · "arrêtant" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "arrêtait" for "arrêtant" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "arrêtait" or "arrêtant" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "arrêtait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "arrêtant" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #291,837 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "arrêtait" and "arrêtant" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "arrêtais vs arrêtant". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #291,837 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.