Which to use
“demandaient” and “demandèrent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,607
- “demandaient” frequency rank
- #40,712
- “demandèrent” frequency rank
- 56319
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | demandaient | demandèrent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de demander. | Troisième personne du pluriel du passé simple de demander. |
Where the eye mixes demandaient and demandèrent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. demandaient (CVCVCCVVVCC) and demandèrent (CVCVCCVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses demandaient with demandèrent
A purely visual mix-up. demandaient (\də.mɑ̃.dɛ\) and demandèrent (\də.mɑ̃.dɛʁ\) 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 56319, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
demandaient is recorded at frequency rank #15,607, classified as averb, pronounced \də.mɑ̃.dɛ\. demandèrent is at rank #40,712, tagged as averb, pronounced \də.mɑ̃.dɛʁ\.
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 56319, this pair ranks #121,819 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of demandaient vs demandèrent
Shared letters: ademnt. Private to "demandaient": i. Private to "demandèrent": rè.
"demandaient" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCVVVCC · "demandèrent" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- demandaient ← ddemandaient · deamndaient · demadnaient · demanadient · demandaeint · demandaiennt · demandaientt · demandaietn
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "demandaient" for "demandèrent" ever safe?
Which is more common, "demandaient" or "demandèrent"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "demandaient" and "demandèrent" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "demandaient" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "demandèrent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #121,819 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "demandaient" and "demandèrent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "demandèrent vs demanderez". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #121,819 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.