Which to use
“hérite” and “hésite” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,652
- “hérite” frequency rank
- #3,855
- “hésite” frequency rank
- 25507
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hérite | hésite |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de hériter. | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de hésiter. |
Where the eye mixes hérite and hésite
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. hérite and hésite follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses hérite with hésite
A purely visual mix-up. hérite (\e.ʁit\) and hésite (^((h muet))\e.zit\) 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 a single letter - r in “hérite” becomes s in “hésite”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25507, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hérite is recorded at frequency rank #21,652, classified as averb, pronounced \e.ʁit\. hésite is at rank #3,855, tagged as averb, pronounced ^((h muet))\e.zit\.
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 25507, this pair ranks #340,470 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of hérite vs hésite
Shared letters: ehité. Private to "hérite": r. Private to "hésite": s.
"hérite" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "hésite" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hérite" for "hésite" ever safe?
Frequency check: "hérite" vs "hésite" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "hérite" and "hésite" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "hérite" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hésite" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #340,470 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hérite" and "hésite" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hérite vs hésita". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #340,470 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.