Which to use
“fréquentaient” and “fréquentait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #45,062
- “fréquentaient” frequency rank
- #29,363
- “fréquentait” frequency rank
- 74425
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fréquentaient | fréquentait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de fréquenter. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de fréquenter. |
Same sound, different letters: fréquentaient vs fréquentait
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 11 letters. fréquentaient runs 13 letters (CCVCVVCCVVVCC) against fréquentait's 11 (CCVCVVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Homophone desk: fréquentaient vs fréquentait
This is the hard kind. fréquentaient and fréquentait are pronounced identically (\fʁe.kɑ̃.tɛ\) and both work as averb. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74425, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fréquentaient is recorded at frequency rank #45,062, classified as averb, pronounced \fʁe.kɑ̃.tɛ\. fréquentait is at rank #29,363, tagged as averb, pronounced \fʁe.kɑ̃.tɛ\.
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 74425, this pair ranks #37,203 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fréquentaient vs fréquentait
Shared letters: aefinqrtué. Private to "fréquentaient": -. Private to "fréquentait": -.
"fréquentaient" · 13 letters · shape CCVCVVCCVVVCC · "fréquentait" · 11 letters · shape CCVCVVCCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fréquentaient" and "fréquentait" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "fréquentaient" vs "fréquentait" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "fréquentaient" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fréquentait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #37,203 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fréquentaient" and "fréquentait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fréquentaient vs fréquentant". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #37,203 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.