contrôlantvscontrôlentWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“contrôlant” and “contrôlent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#27,383
“contrôlant” frequency rank
#14,233
“contrôlent” frequency rank
41616
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contrôlant contrôlent
Definition Participe présent de contrôler. Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de contrôler.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set contrôlant and contrôlent apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
contrôlant
10 ch
contrôlent

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. contrôlant (\kɔ̃.tʁo.lɑ̃\) and contrôlent (\kɔ̃.tʁol\) 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 a single letter - a in “contrôlant” becomes e in “contrôlent”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41616, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

contrôlant is recorded at frequency rank #27,383, classified as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃.tʁo.lɑ̃\. contrôlent is at rank #14,233, tagged as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃.tʁol\.

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 41616, this pair ranks #231,793 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of contrôlant vs contrôlent

Shared letters: clnortô. Private to "contrôlant": a. Private to "contrôlent": e.

"contrôlant" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCC  ·  "contrôlent" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCC

Frequency comparison

contrôlant#27,383
contrôlent#14,233

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "contrôlant" and "contrôlent" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kɔ̃.tʁo.lɑ̃\ versus \kɔ̃.tʁol\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "contrôlant" or "contrôlent"?
"contrôlent" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,233 in our French list, against #27,383 for "contrôlant". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering contrôlant vs contrôlent

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 “contrôlant” 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