expliquaitvsexpliquentWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#11,965
“expliquait” frequency rank
#7,183
“expliquent” frequency rank
19148
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature expliquait expliquent
Definition Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de expliquer. Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de expliquer.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set expliquait and expliquent apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
expliquait
10 ch
expliquent

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. expliquait (\ɛk.spli.kɛ\) and expliquent (\ɛk.splik\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19148, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

expliquait is recorded at frequency rank #11,965, classified as averb, pronounced \ɛk.spli.kɛ\. expliquent is at rank #7,183, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɛk.splik\.

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 19148, this pair ranks #374,720 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of expliquait vs expliquent

Shared letters: eilpqtux. Private to "expliquait": a. Private to "expliquent": n.

"expliquait" · 10 letters · shape VCCCVCVVVC  ·  "expliquent" · 10 letters · shape VCCCVCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • expliquaitepxliquait · exlpiquait · expilquait · expliqauit · expliqquait · expliquaitt · expliquati · expliquiat
  • expliquentepxliquent · exlpiquent · expilquent · expliqeunt · expliqquent · expliquennt · expliquentt · expliquetn

Frequency comparison

expliquait#11,965
expliquent#7,183

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "expliquait" and "expliquent" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɛk.spli.kɛ\ versus \ɛk.splik\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "expliquait" or "expliquent"?
"expliquent" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,183 in our French list, against #11,965 for "expliquait". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering expliquait vs expliquent

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 “expliquait” 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