Which to use
“commençaient” and “commencèrent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,394
- “commençaient” frequency rank
- #19,783
- “commencèrent” frequency rank
- 40177
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | commençaient | commencèrent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif imparfait de commencer. | Troisième personne du pluriel du passé simple de commencer. |
Where the eye mixes commençaient and commencèrent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. commençaient (CVCCVCCVVVCC) and commencèrent (CVCCVCCVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between commençaient and commencèrent
A purely visual mix-up. commençaient (\kɔ.mɑ̃.sɛ\) and commencèrent (\kɔ.mɑ̃.sɛʁ\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40177, 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\. commencèrent is at rank #19,783, tagged as averb, pronounced \kɔ.mɑ̃.sɛʁ\.
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 40177, this pair ranks #242,437 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of commençaient vs commencèrent
Shared letters: cemnot. Private to "commençaient": aiç. Private to "commencèrent": rè.
"commençaient" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVVCC · "commencèrent" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "commençaient" for "commencèrent" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "commençaient" or "commencèrent" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "commençaient" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "commencèrent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #242,437 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "commençaient" and "commencèrent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "commencèrent vs commencerons". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #242,437 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.