Which to use
“consistait” and “consistent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,643
- “consistait” frequency rank
- #18,446
- “consistent” frequency rank
- 33089
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | consistait | consistent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif imparfait de consister. | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de consister. |
Where the eye mixes consistait and consistent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses consistait with consistent
A purely visual mix-up. consistait (\kɔ̃.sis.tɛ\) and consistent (\kɔ̃.sist\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33089, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
consistait is recorded at frequency rank #14,643, classified as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃.sis.tɛ\. consistent is at rank #18,446, tagged as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃.sist\.
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 33089, this pair ranks #292,927 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of consistait vs consistent
Shared letters: cinost. Private to "consistait": a. Private to "consistent": e.
"consistait" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVC · "consistent" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- consistait ← cconsistait · cnosistait · conisstait · connsistait · consisatit · consisstait · consistaitt · consistati
- consistent ← cconsistent · cnosistent · conisstent · connsistent · consisetnt · consisstent · consistennt · consistentt
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "consistait" for "consistent" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "consistait" or "consistent" show up more?
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 "consistait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "consistent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #292,927 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "consistait" and "consistent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "consistent vs consister". 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 #292,927 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.