évitaitvsévitantWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: évitait is a verb, évitant is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#41,615
“évitait” frequency rank
#11,332
“évitant” frequency rank
52947
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature évitait évitant
Definition Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de éviter. Relatif à une personnalité prudente et timide, qui fuit les relations avec les autres de peur de leur paraître inférieure.

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
évitait
7 ch
évitant

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: évitait is \e.vi.tɛ\ while évitant is \e.vi.tɑ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - i in “évitait” becomes n in “évitant”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52947, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

évitait is recorded at frequency rank #41,615, classified as averb, pronounced \e.vi.tɛ\. évitant is at rank #11,332, tagged as anadj, pronounced \e.vi.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 52947, this pair ranks #144,169 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of évitait vs évitant

Shared letters: aitvé. Private to "évitait": -. Private to "évitant": n.

"évitait" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVVC  ·  "évitant" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVCC

Frequency comparison

évitait#41,615
évitant#11,332

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "évitait" and "évitant" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "évitait" is a verb and "évitant" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "évitait" or "évitant"?
"évitant" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,332 in our French list, against #41,615 for "évitait". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering évitait vs évitant

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “évitait”; for an adjective, it's “évitant”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “évitait” 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