entraient vs étaient, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#37,316
“entraient” frequency rank: #238
“étaient” frequency rank: 37554
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	entraient	étaient
Definition	Troisième personne du pluriel de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de entrer.	Troisième personne du pluriel de l’imparfait de être.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set entraient and étaient apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch

entraient

7 ch

étaient

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. entraient (\ɑ̃.tʁɛ\) and étaient (\e.tɛ\) 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 37554, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

entraient is recorded at frequency rank #37,316, classified as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.tʁɛ\. étaient is at rank #238, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.tɛ\.

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 37554, this pair ranks #261,670 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of entraient vs étaient

Shared letters: aeint. Private to "entraient": r. Private to "étaient": é.

"entraient" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVVVCC · "étaient" · 7 letters · shape VCVVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

entraient ← enntraient · enrtaient · entarient · entraeint · entraiennt · entraientt · entraietn · entrainet

Frequency comparison

entraient#37,316

étaient#238

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "entraient" and "étaient" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (\ɑ̃.tʁɛ\ versus \e.tɛ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "entraient" or "étaient"?

"étaient" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #238 in our French list, against #37,316 for "entraient". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering entraient vs étaient

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “entraient” entry
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