Which to use
“hésita” and “hésitais” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #45,662
- “hésita” frequency rank
- #39,340
- “hésitais” frequency rank
- 85002
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hésita | hésitais |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de hésiter. | Première personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de hésiter. |
Where the eye mixes hésita and hésitais
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. hésita runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against hésitais's 8 (CVCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between hésita and hésitais
A purely visual mix-up. hésita (^((h muet))\e.zi.ta\) and hésitais (^((h muet))\e.zi.tɛ\) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “hésita” sits inside “hésitais”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 85002, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hésita is recorded at frequency rank #45,662, classified as averb, pronounced ^((h muet))\e.zi.ta\. hésitais is at rank #39,340, tagged as averb, pronounced ^((h muet))\e.zi.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 85002, this pair ranks #12,042 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of hésita vs hésitais
Shared letters: ahisté. Private to "hésita": -. Private to "hésitais": -.
"hésita" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "hésitais" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "hésita" and "hésitais" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "hésita" vs "hésitais" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "hésita" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hésitais" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #12,042 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hésita" and "hésitais" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hasta vs hésita". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #12,042 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.