contrôlentvscontrôlerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#14,233
“contrôlent” frequency rank
#2,991
“contrôler” frequency rank
17224
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contrôlent contrôler
Definition Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de contrôler. Vérifier la conformité, la régularité ou l'exactitude.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set contrôlent and contrôler apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
contrôlent
9 ch
contrôler

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. contrôlent (\kɔ̃.tʁol\) and contrôler (\kɔ̃.tʁo.le\) 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 17224, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

contrôlent is recorded at frequency rank #14,233, classified as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃.tʁol\. contrôler is at rank #2,991, tagged as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃.tʁo.le\.

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 17224, this pair ranks #384,212 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of contrôlent vs contrôler

Shared letters: celnortô. Private to "contrôlent": -. Private to "contrôler": -.

"contrôlent" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCC  ·  "contrôler" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC

Frequency comparison

contrôlent#14,233
contrôler#2,991

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "contrôlent" and "contrôler" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kɔ̃.tʁol\ versus \kɔ̃.tʁo.le\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "contrôlent" or "contrôler"?
"contrôler" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,991 in our French list, against #14,233 for "contrôlent". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering contrôlent vs contrôler

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 “contrôlent” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list