filentvsfilmantTell them apart

Which to use

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

#31,030
“filent” frequency rank
#46,764
“filmant” frequency rank
77794
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature filent filmant
Definition Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de filer. Participe présent de filmer.

Where the eye mixes filent and filmant

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. filent runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against filmant's 7 (CVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
filent
7 ch
filmant

Visual trap between filent and filmant

A purely visual mix-up. filent (\fil\) and filmant (\fil.mɑ̃\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77794, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

filent is recorded at frequency rank #31,030, classified as averb, pronounced \fil\. filmant is at rank #46,764, tagged as averb, pronounced \fil.mɑ̃\.

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 77794, this pair ranks #27,442 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of filent vs filmant

Shared letters: filnt. Private to "filent": e. Private to "filmant": am.

"filent" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "filmant" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • filentffilent · fielnt · filennt · filentt · filetn · fillent · filnet · flient
  • filmantffilmant · filamnt · fillmant · filmannt · filmantt · filmatn · filmmant · filmnat

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "filent" for "filmant" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\fil\ versus \fil.mɑ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "filent" vs "filmant" - which ranks higher?
"filent" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,030 in our French list, against #46,764 for "filmant". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "filent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "filmant" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #27,442 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "filent" and "filmant" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "filmait vs filmant". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #27,442 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list