Which to use
“empêchaient” and “empêchent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #42,314
- “empêchaient” frequency rank
- #9,992
- “empêchent” frequency rank
- 52306
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | empêchaient | empêchent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de empêcher. | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de empêcher. |
Where the eye mixes empêchaient and empêchent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. empêchaient runs 11 letters (VCCVCCVVVCC) against empêchent's 9 (VCCVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between empêchaient and empêchent
A purely visual mix-up. empêchaient (\ɑ̃.pɛ.ʃɛ\) and empêchent (\ɑ̃.pɛʃ\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52306, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
empêchaient is recorded at frequency rank #42,314, classified as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.pɛ.ʃɛ\. empêchent is at rank #9,992, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.pɛʃ\.
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 52306, this pair ranks #148,620 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of empêchaient vs empêchent
Shared letters: cehmnptê. Private to "empêchaient": ai. Private to "empêchent": -.
"empêchaient" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVVVCC · "empêchent" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "empêchaient" and "empêchent" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "empêchaient" vs "empêchent" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "empêchaient" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "empêchent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #148,620 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "empêchaient" and "empêchent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "empêchaient vs empêchement". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #148,620 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.