Which to use
“brûlait” and “brûlent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,716
- “brûlait” frequency rank
- #18,140
- “brûlent” frequency rank
- 50856
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | brûlait | brûlent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif imparfait du verbe brûler. | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent du verbe brûler. |
Where the eye mixes brûlait and brûlent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. brûlait (CCVCVVC) and brûlent (CCVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between brûlait and brûlent
A purely visual mix-up. brûlait (\bʁy.lɛ\) and brûlent (\bʁyl\) 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 50856, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
brûlait is recorded at frequency rank #32,716, classified as averb, pronounced \bʁy.lɛ\. brûlent is at rank #18,140, tagged as averb, pronounced \bʁyl\.
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 50856, this pair ranks #159,408 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of brûlait vs brûlent
Shared letters: blrtû. Private to "brûlait": ai. Private to "brûlent": en.
"brûlait" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVVC · "brûlent" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "brûlait" and "brûlent" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "brûlait" or "brûlent" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "brûlait" and "brûlent" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "brûlait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "brûlent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #159,408 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "brûlait" and "brûlent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "brûlait vs brûlants". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #159,408 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.