espéraient vs espèrent, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#28,161
“espéraient” frequency rank: #15,373
“espèrent” frequency rank: 43534
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	espéraient	espèrent
Definition	Troisième personne du pluriel de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de espérer.	Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de espérer.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set espéraient and espèrent apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch

espéraient

8 ch

espèrent

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. espéraient (\ɛs.pe.ʁɛ\) and espèrent (\ɛs.pɛʁ\) 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 43534, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

espéraient is recorded at frequency rank #28,161, classified as averb, pronounced \ɛs.pe.ʁɛ\. espèrent is at rank #15,373, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɛs.pɛʁ\.

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 43534, this pair ranks #217,339 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of espéraient vs espèrent

Shared letters: enprst. Private to "espéraient": aié. Private to "espèrent": è.

"espéraient" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVVVCC · "espèrent" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCC

Frequency comparison

espéraient#28,161

espèrent#15,373

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "espéraient" and "espèrent" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (\ɛs.pe.ʁɛ\ versus \ɛs.pɛʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "espéraient" or "espèrent"?

"espèrent" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,373 in our French list, against #28,161 for "espéraient". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering espéraient vs espèrent

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 “espéraient” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable