découvrantvsdécouvrentWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#16,601
“découvrant” frequency rank
#9,986
“découvrent” frequency rank
26587
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature découvrant découvrent
Definition Participe présent de découvrir. Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de découvrir.

Where the spellings diverge

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

10 ch
découvrant
10 ch
découvrent

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. découvrant (\de.ku.vʁɑ̃\) and découvrent (\de.kuvʁ\) 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 “découvrant” becomes e in “découvrent”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26587, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

découvrant is recorded at frequency rank #16,601, classified as averb, pronounced \de.ku.vʁɑ̃\. découvrent is at rank #9,986, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.kuvʁ\.

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 26587, this pair ranks #334,065 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of découvrant vs découvrent

Shared letters: cdnortuvé. Private to "découvrant": a. Private to "découvrent": e.

"découvrant" · 10 letters · shape CVCVVCCVCC  ·  "découvrent" · 10 letters · shape CVCVVCCVCC

Frequency comparison

découvrant#16,601
découvrent#9,986

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "découvrant" and "découvrent" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\de.ku.vʁɑ̃\ versus \de.kuvʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "découvrant" or "découvrent"?
"découvrent" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,986 in our French list, against #16,601 for "découvrant". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering découvrant vs découvrent

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 “découvrant” 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