déclaraientvsdéclarantWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: déclaraient is a verb, déclarant is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“déclaraient” is a verb and “déclarant” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#45,565
“déclaraient” frequency rank
#9,473
“déclarant” frequency rank
55038
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature déclaraient déclarant
Definition Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif imparfait de déclarer. Personne qui fait une déclaration officielle à une autorité, par exemple devant un officier d’état-civil.

Where the spellings diverge

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

11 ch
déclaraient
9 ch
déclarant

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: déclaraient is \de.kla.ʁɛ\ while déclarant is \de.kla.ʁɑ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55038, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

déclaraient is recorded at frequency rank #45,565, classified as averb, pronounced \de.kla.ʁɛ\. déclarant is at rank #9,473, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.kla.ʁɑ̃\.

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 55038, this pair ranks #130,067 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of déclaraient vs déclarant

Shared letters: acdlnrté. Private to "déclaraient": ei. Private to "déclarant": -.

"déclaraient" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCVVVCC  ·  "déclarant" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCC

Frequency comparison

déclaraient#45,565
déclarant#9,473

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "déclaraient" and "déclarant" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "déclaraient" is a verb and "déclarant" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "déclaraient" or "déclarant"?
"déclarant" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,473 in our French list, against #45,565 for "déclaraient". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering déclaraient vs déclarant

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “déclaraient”; for a noun, it's “déclarant”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “déclaraient” 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