déclaraitvsdéclarentTell them apart

Which to use

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

#14,022
“déclarait” frequency rank
#9,985
“déclarent” frequency rank
24007
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature déclarait déclarent
Definition Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif imparfait de déclarer. Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de déclarer.

Where the eye mixes déclarait and déclarent

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. déclarait (CVCCVCVVC) and déclarent (CVCCVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

9 ch
déclarait
9 ch
déclarent

Look-alike desk: déclarait vs déclarent

A purely visual mix-up. déclarait (\de.kla.ʁɛ\) and déclarent (\de.klaʁ\) 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 24007, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

déclarait is recorded at frequency rank #14,022, classified as averb, pronounced \de.kla.ʁɛ\. déclarent is at rank #9,985, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.klaʁ\.

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 24007, this pair ranks #349,206 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of déclarait vs déclarent

Shared letters: acdlrté. Private to "déclarait": i. Private to "déclarent": en.

"déclarait" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVVC  ·  "déclarent" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "déclarait" and "déclarent" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\de.kla.ʁɛ\ versus \de.klaʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "déclarait" or "déclarent" show up more?
"déclarent" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,985 in our French list, against #14,022 for "déclarait". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "déclarait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "déclarent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #349,206 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "déclarait" and "déclarent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "déclaraient vs déclarait". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #349,206 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list