Which to use
“arrêtent” and “arrêter” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,275
- “arrêtent” frequency rank
- #733
- “arrêter” frequency rank
- 8008
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | arrêtent | arrêter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent du verbe arrêter. | Empêcher quelqu’un ou quelque chose de continuer son déplacement. |
Where the eye mixes arrêtent and arrêter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. arrêtent runs 8 letters (VCCVCVCC) against arrêter's 7 (VCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between arrêtent and arrêter
A purely visual mix-up. arrêtent (\a.ʁɛt\) and arrêter (\a.ʁe.te\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8008, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
arrêtent is recorded at frequency rank #7,275, classified as averb, pronounced \a.ʁɛt\. arrêter is at rank #733, tagged as averb, pronounced \a.ʁe.te\.
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 8008, this pair ranks #421,411 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of arrêtent vs arrêter
Shared letters: aertê. Private to "arrêtent": n. Private to "arrêter": -.
"arrêtent" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCC · "arrêter" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "arrêtent" and "arrêter" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "arrêtent" vs "arrêter" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "arrêtent" and "arrêter" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "arrêtent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "arrêter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #421,411 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "arrêtent" and "arrêter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "âprement vs arrêtent". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #421,411 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.