étaient vs étalent, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#238
“étaient” frequency rank: #36,219
“étalent” frequency rank: 36457
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	étaient	étalent
Definition	Troisième personne du pluriel de l’imparfait de être.	Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de étaler.

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch

étaient

7 ch

étalent

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. étaient (\e.tɛ\) and étalent (\e.tal\) 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 “étaient” becomes l in “étalent”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36457, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

étaient is recorded at frequency rank #238, classified as averb, pronounced \e.tɛ\. étalent is at rank #36,219, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.tal\.

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 36457, this pair ranks #269,466 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of étaient vs étalent

Shared letters: aenté. Private to "étaient": i. Private to "étalent": l.

"étaient" · 7 letters · shape VCVVVCC · "étalent" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVCC

Frequency comparison

étaient#238

étalent#36,219

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

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

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

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

"étaient" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #238 in our French list, against #36,219 for "étalent". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering étaient vs étalent

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