Which to use
“empêchait” and “empêchant” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,473
- “empêchait” frequency rank
- #13,371
- “empêchant” frequency rank
- 31844
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | empêchait | empêchant |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de empêcher. | Participe présent de empêcher. |
Where the eye mixes empêchait and empêchant
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. empêchait (VCCVCCVVC) and empêchant (VCCVCCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses empêchait with empêchant
A purely visual mix-up. empêchait (\ɑ̃.pɛ.ʃɛ\) and empêchant (\ɑ̃.pɛ.ʃɑ̃\) 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 “empêchait” becomes n in “empêchant”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31844, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
empêchait is recorded at frequency rank #18,473, classified as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.pɛ.ʃɛ\. empêchant is at rank #13,371, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.pɛ.ʃɑ̃\.
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 31844, this pair ranks #301,199 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of empêchait vs empêchant
Shared letters: acehmptê. Private to "empêchait": i. Private to "empêchant": n.
"empêchait" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVVC · "empêchant" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "empêchait" for "empêchant" ever safe?
Which is more common, "empêchait" or "empêchant"?
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 "empêchait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "empêchant" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #301,199 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "empêchait" and "empêchant" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "empêchaient vs empêchait". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #301,199 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.