Which to use
“embrassait” is a verb and “embrassant” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #38,267
- “embrassait” frequency rank
- #28,930
- “embrassant” frequency rank
- 67197
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | embrassait | embrassant |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de embrasser. | Qui a l’habitude d’embrasser, qui aime à embrasser. |
Where the eye mixes embrassait and embrassant
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. embrassait (VCCCVCCVVC) and embrassant (VCCCVCCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between embrassait and embrassant
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: embrassait is \ɑ̃.bʁa.sɛ\ while embrassant is \ɑ̃.bʁa.sɑ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - i in “embrassait” becomes n in “embrassant”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67197, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
embrassait is recorded at frequency rank #38,267, classified as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.bʁa.sɛ\. embrassant is at rank #28,930, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɑ̃.bʁa.sɑ̃\.
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 67197, this pair ranks #64,459 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of embrassait vs embrassant
Shared letters: abemrst. Private to "embrassait": i. Private to "embrassant": n.
"embrassait" · 10 letters · shape VCCCVCCVVC · "embrassant" · 10 letters · shape VCCCVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- embrassait ← ebmrassait · embarssait · embbrassait · embrasait · embrasasit · embrassaitt · embrassati · embrassiat
- embrassant ← ebmrassant · embarssant · embbrassant · embrasant · embrasasnt · embrassannt · embrassantt · embrassatn
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "embrassait" for "embrassant" ever safe?
Which is more common, "embrassait" or "embrassant"?
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 "embrassait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "embrassant" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #64,459 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "embrassait" and "embrassant" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "embrassa vs embrassait". 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 #64,459 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.