hésitavshésitezTell them apart

Which to use

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

#45,662
“hésita” frequency rank
#6,097
“hésitez” frequency rank
51759
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hésita hésitez
Definition Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de hésiter. Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de hésiter.

Where the eye mixes hésita and hésitez

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

6 ch
hésita
7 ch
hésitez

Look-alike desk: hésita vs hésitez

A purely visual mix-up. hésita (^((h muet))\e.zi.ta\) and hésitez (^((h muet))\e.zi.te\) 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 51759, 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\. hésitez is at rank #6,097, tagged as averb, pronounced ^((h muet))\e.zi.te\.

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 51759, this pair ranks #152,673 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hésita vs hésitez

Shared letters: histé. Private to "hésita": a. Private to "hésitez": ez.

"hésita" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "hésitez" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "hésita" for "hésitez" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (^((h muet))\e.zi.ta\ versus ^((h muet))\e.zi.te\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "hésita" or "hésitez"?
"hésitez" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,097 in our French list, against #45,662 for "hésita". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "hésita" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hésitez" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #152,673 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hésita" and "hésitez" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hasta vs hésita". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #152,673 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