Which to use
“avait” and “avi” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #87
- “avait” frequency rank
- #29,236
- “avi” frequency rank
- 29323
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | avait | avi |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif imparfait du verbe avoir. | Participe passé masculin singulier du verbe avir. |
Where the eye mixes avait and avi
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. avait runs 5 letters (VCVVC) against avi's 3 (VCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: avait vs avi
A purely visual mix-up. avait (\a.vɛ\) and avi (\a.vi\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29323, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
avait is recorded at frequency rank #87, classified as averb, pronounced \a.vɛ\. avi is at rank #29,236, tagged as averb, pronounced \a.vi\.
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 29323, this pair ranks #317,391 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of avait vs avi
Shared letters: aiv. Private to "avait": t. Private to "avi": -.
"avait" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC · "avi" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- avait ← aavit · avaitt · avati · aviat · avvait · vaait
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "avait" and "avi" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "avait" vs "avi" - 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 "avait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "avi" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #317,391 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "avait" and "avi" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aves vs avi". 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 #317,391 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.