Which to use
“étaient” is a verb and “étant” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #238
- “étaient” frequency rank
- #422
- “étant” frequency rank
- 660
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | étaient | étant |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’imparfait de être. | Concept utilisé pour désigner tout ce qui se présente d'une façon déterminée, sur un mode concret, opposé à l’être qui est indéterminé, indifférencié. |
Where the eye mixes étaient and étant
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses étaient with étant
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: étaient is \e.tɛ\ while étant is \e.tɑ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 660, 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\. étant is at rank #422, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.tɑ̃\.
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 660, this pair ranks #439,316 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of étaient vs étant
Shared letters: anté. Private to "étaient": ei. Private to "étant": -.
"étaient" · 7 letters · shape VCVVVCC · "étant" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "étaient" and "étant" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "étaient" or "étant"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "étaient" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "étant" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #439,316 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "étaient" and "étant" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "étai vs étant". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #439,316 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.