Which to use
“arrêtait” and “arrivait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,512
- “arrêtait” frequency rank
- #5,727
- “arrivait” frequency rank
- 19239
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | arrêtait | arrivait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif imparfait du verbe arrêter. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif imparfait du verbe arriver. |
Where the eye mixes arrêtait and arrivait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. arrêtait and arrivait follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses arrêtait with arrivait
A purely visual mix-up. arrêtait (\a.ʁɛ.tɛ\) and arrivait (\a.ʁi.vɛ\) 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 19239, 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\. arrivait is at rank #5,727, tagged as averb, pronounced \a.ʁi.vɛ\.
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 19239, this pair ranks #374,252 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of arrêtait vs arrivait
Shared letters: airt. Private to "arrêtait": ê. Private to "arrivait": v.
"arrêtait" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVVC · "arrivait" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- arrivait ← arirvait · arivait · arriavit · arrivaitt · arrivati · arriviat · arrivvait · arrviait
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "arrêtait" and "arrivait" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "arrêtait" vs "arrivait" - which ranks higher?
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 "arrêtait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "arrivait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #374,252 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "arrêtait" and "arrivait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "arrêtait vs arrêterait". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #374,252 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.