Which to use
“arrêtent” and “arrêtons” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,275
- “arrêtent” frequency rank
- #13,324
- “arrêtons” frequency rank
- 20599
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | arrêtent | arrêtons |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent du verbe arrêter. | Première personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent du verbe arrêter. |
Where the eye mixes arrêtent and arrêtons
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. arrêtent and arrêtons follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses arrêtent with arrêtons
A purely visual mix-up. arrêtent (\a.ʁɛt\) 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 20599, 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\. 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 20599, this pair ranks #367,452 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of arrêtent vs arrêtons
Shared letters: anrtê. Private to "arrêtent": e. Private to "arrêtons": os.
"arrêtent" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCC · "arrêtons" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "arrêtent" and "arrêtons" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "arrêtent" or "arrêtons"?
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 "arrêtent" 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 #367,452 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "arrêtent" and "arrêtons" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "arrêterons vs arrêtons". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #367,452 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.