connaîtvsconvenaitWhat's the difference?

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 spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set connaît and convenait apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
connaît
9 ch
convenait

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

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

  • convenaitcconvenait · cnovenait · conevnait · connvenait · conveanit · convenaitt · convenati · conveniat

Frequency comparison

connaît#1,324
convenait#20,405

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "connaît" and "convenait" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kɔ.nɛ\ versus \kɔ̃.və.nɛ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "connaît" or "convenait"?
"connaît" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,324 in our French list, against #20,405 for "convenait". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering connaît vs convenait

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “connaît” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list