Which to use
“entouraient” and “entraient” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,781
- “entouraient” frequency rank
- #37,316
- “entraient” frequency rank
- 77097
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | entouraient | entraient |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de entourer. | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de entrer. |
Where the eye mixes entouraient and entraient
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses entouraient with entraient
A purely visual mix-up. entouraient (\ɑ̃.tu.ʁɛ\) and entraient (\ɑ̃.tʁɛ\) 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 77097, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
entouraient is recorded at frequency rank #39,781, classified as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.tu.ʁɛ\. entraient is at rank #37,316, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.tʁɛ\.
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 77097, this pair ranks #29,328 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of entouraient vs entraient
Shared letters: aeinrt. Private to "entouraient": ou. Private to "entraient": -.
"entouraient" · 11 letters · shape VCCVVCVVVCC · "entraient" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- entouraient ← enntouraient · enoturaient · entoruaient · entouarient · entouraeint · entouraiennt · entouraientt · entouraietn
- entraient ← enntraient · enrtaient · entarient · entraeint · entraiennt · entraientt · entraietn · entrainet
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "entouraient" for "entraient" ever safe?
Frequency check: "entouraient" vs "entraient" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "entouraient" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "entraient" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #29,328 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "entouraient" and "entraient" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "entraient vs entrèrent". 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 #29,328 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.