errantsvserrentWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: errants is a adjective, errent is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“errants” is an adjective and “errent” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#28,542
“errants” frequency rank
#45,590
“errent” frequency rank
74132
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature errants errent
Definition Masculin pluriel de errant. Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de errer.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set errants and errent apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
errants
6 ch
errent

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: errants is \ɛ.ʁɑ̃\ while errent is \ɛʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74132, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

errants is recorded at frequency rank #28,542, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɛ.ʁɑ̃\. errent is at rank #45,590, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɛʁ\.

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 74132, this pair ranks #38,158 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of errants vs errent

Shared letters: enrt. Private to "errants": as. Private to "errent": -.

"errants" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCC  ·  "errent" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • errantserants · erarnts · errannts · erranst · errantss · errantts · erratns · errnats
  • errenterent · erernt · errennt · errentt · erretn · errnet · rerent

Frequency comparison

errants#28,542
errent#45,590

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "errants" and "errent" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "errants" is an adjective and "errent" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "errants" or "errent"?
"errants" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,542 in our French list, against #45,590 for "errent". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering errants vs errent

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “errants”; for a verb, it's “errent”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “errants” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list