Which to use
“concernaient” and “contenaient” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #30,533
- “concernaient” frequency rank
- #28,114
- “contenaient” frequency rank
- 58647
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | concernaient | contenaient |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif imparfait de concerner. | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’imparfait de contenir. |
Where the eye mixes concernaient and contenaient
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. concernaient runs 12 letters (CVCCVCCVVVCC) against contenaient's 11 (CVCCVCVVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between concernaient and contenaient
A purely visual mix-up. concernaient (\kɔ̃.sɛʁ.nɛ\) and contenaient (\kɔ̃.tə.nɛ\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58647, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
concernaient is recorded at frequency rank #30,533, classified as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃.sɛʁ.nɛ\. contenaient is at rank #28,114, tagged as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃.tə.nɛ\.
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 58647, this pair ranks #107,792 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of concernaient vs contenaient
Shared letters: aceinot. Private to "concernaient": r. Private to "contenaient": -.
"concernaient" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVVCC · "contenaient" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCVVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- concernaient ← cconcernaient · cnocernaient · cocnernaient · conccernaient · concenraient · conceranient · concernaeint · concernaiennt
- contenaient ← ccontenaient · cnotenaient · conetnaient · conntenaient · conteanient · contenaeint · contenaiennt · contenaientt
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "concernaient" for "contenaient" ever safe?
Frequency check: "concernaient" vs "contenaient" - 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 "concernaient" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "contenaient" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #107,792 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "concernaient" and "contenaient" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contenaient vs continuaient". 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 #107,792 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.