Which to use
“commençaient” and “commençais” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,394
- “commençaient” frequency rank
- #17,907
- “commençais” frequency rank
- 38301
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | commençaient | commençais |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif imparfait de commencer. | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif imparfait de commencer. |
Same sound, different letters: commençaient vs commençais
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 9 letters. commençaient runs 12 letters (CVCCVCCVVVCC) against commençais's 10 (CVCCVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Homophone desk: commençaient vs commençais
This is the hard kind. commençaient and commençais are pronounced identically (\kɔ.mɑ̃.sɛ\) and both work as averb. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38301, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
commençaient is recorded at frequency rank #20,394, classified as averb, pronounced \kɔ.mɑ̃.sɛ\. commençais is at rank #17,907, tagged as averb, pronounced \kɔ.mɑ̃.sɛ\.
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 38301, this pair ranks #256,237 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of commençaient vs commençais
Shared letters: aceimnoç. Private to "commençaient": t. Private to "commençais": s.
"commençaient" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVVCC · "commençais" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "commençaient" and "commençais" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "commençaient" or "commençais" show up more?
Useful next steps
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "commençaient" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "commençais" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #256,237 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "commençaient" and "commençais" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "commençais vs commencées". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #256,237 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.