Which to use
“connaît” and “convenait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,324
- “connaît” frequency rank
- #20,405
- “convenait” frequency rank
- 21729
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | connaît | convenait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de connaître. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de convenir. |
Where the eye mixes connaît and convenait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. connaît runs 7 letters (CVCCVVC) against convenait's 9 (CVCCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between connaît and convenait
A purely visual mix-up. connaît (\kɔ.nɛ\) and convenait (\kɔ̃.və.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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21729, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
connaît is recorded at frequency rank #1,324, classified as averb, pronounced \kɔ.nɛ\. convenait is at rank #20,405, tagged as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃.və.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 21729, this pair ranks #361,714 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of connaît vs convenait
Shared letters: acnot. Private to "connaît": î. Private to "convenait": eiv.
"connaît" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "convenait" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- convenait ← cconvenait · cnovenait · conevnait · connvenait · conveanit · convenaitt · convenati · conveniat
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "connaît" for "convenait" ever safe?
Which is more common, "connaît" or "convenait"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "connaît" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "convenait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #361,714 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "connaît" and "convenait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "convenait vs convenant". 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 #361,714 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.