Which to use
“hériter” and “hésite” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,626
- “hériter” frequency rank
- #3,855
- “hésite” frequency rank
- 28481
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hériter | hésite |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Devenir propriétaire d’une chose par droit de succession. | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de hésiter. |
Where the eye mixes hériter and hésite
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. hériter runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against hésite's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses hériter with hésite
A purely visual mix-up. hériter (^((h muet))\e.ʁi.te\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28481, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hériter is recorded at frequency rank #24,626, classified as averb, pronounced ^((h muet))\e.ʁi.te\. 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 28481, this pair ranks #322,497 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hériter vs hésite
Shared letters: ehité. Private to "hériter": r. Private to "hésite": s.
"hériter" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "hésite" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hériter" for "hésite" ever safe?
Which is more common, "hériter" or "hésite"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "hériter" and "hésite" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "hériter" 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 #322,497 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hériter" and "hésite" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hériter vs hermite". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #322,497 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.