éloignaitvséloignentWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#48,281
“éloignait” frequency rank
#23,426
“éloignent” frequency rank
71707
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature éloignait éloignent
Definition Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de éloigner. Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de éloigner.

Where the eye mixes éloignait and éloignent

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

9 ch
éloignait
9 ch
éloignent

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. éloignait (\e.lwa.ɲɛ\) and éloignent (\e.lwaɲ\) 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 71707, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

éloignait is recorded at frequency rank #48,281, classified as averb, pronounced \e.lwa.ɲɛ\. éloignent is at rank #23,426, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.lwaɲ\.

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 71707, this pair ranks #46,585 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of éloignait vs éloignent

Shared letters: gilnoté. Private to "éloignait": a. Private to "éloignent": e.

"éloignait" · 9 letters · shape VCVVCCVVC  ·  "éloignent" · 9 letters · shape VCVVCCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "éloignait" and "éloignent" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\e.lwa.ɲɛ\ versus \e.lwaɲ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "éloignait" or "éloignent"?
"éloignent" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,426 in our French list, against #48,281 for "éloignait". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list