bâtimentvsbattentWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: bâtiment is a noun, battent is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“bâtiment” is a noun and “battent” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,729
“bâtiment” frequency rank
#6,589
“battent” frequency rank
8318
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bâtiment battent
Definition Construction close faite pour loger des hommes ou des animaux, ou pour abriter des denrées, des récoltes, pour servir à des industries, à des services publics, etc. Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent du verbe battre.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set bâtiment and battent apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
bâtiment
7 ch
battent

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bâtiment is \bɑ.ti.mɑ̃\ while battent is \bat\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8318, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bâtiment is recorded at frequency rank #1,729, classified as anoun, pronounced \bɑ.ti.mɑ̃\. battent is at rank #6,589, tagged as averb, pronounced \bat\.

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 8318, this pair ranks #420,420 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bâtiment vs battent

Shared letters: bent. Private to "bâtiment": imâ. Private to "battent": a.

"bâtiment" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC  ·  "battent" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • battentabttent · batent · batetnt · battennt · battentt · battetn · battnet · bbattent

Frequency comparison

bâtiment#1,729
battent#6,589

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bâtiment" and "battent" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bâtiment" is a noun and "battent" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "bâtiment" or "battent"?
"bâtiment" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,729 in our French list, against #6,589 for "battent". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering bâtiment vs battent

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “bâtiment”; for a verb, it's “battent”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “bâtiment” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list