Which to use
“désignait” and “désignant” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,849
- “désignait” frequency rank
- #14,254
- “désignant” frequency rank
- 38103
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | désignait | désignant |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de désigner. | Participe présent de désigner. |
Where the eye mixes désignait and désignant
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. désignait (CVCVCCVVC) and désignant (CVCVCCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: désignait vs désignant
A purely visual mix-up. désignait (\de.zi.ɲɛ\) and désignant (\de.zi.ɲɑ̃\) 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 - i in “désignait” becomes n in “désignant”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38103, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
désignait is recorded at frequency rank #23,849, classified as averb, pronounced \de.zi.ɲɛ\. désignant is at rank #14,254, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.zi.ɲɑ̃\.
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 38103, this pair ranks #257,655 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of désignait vs désignant
Shared letters: adginsté. Private to "désignait": -. Private to "désignant": -.
"désignait" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC · "désignant" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "désignait" and "désignant" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "désignait" or "désignant"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "désignait" and "désignant" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "désignait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "désignant" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #257,655 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "désignait" and "désignant" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "désigna vs désignait". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #257,655 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.