Which to use
“hésitait” and “hésitent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #30,643
- “hésitait” frequency rank
- #13,812
- “hésitent” frequency rank
- 44455
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hésitait | hésitent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de hésiter. | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de hésiter. |
Where the eye mixes hésitait and hésitent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. hésitait (CVCVCVVC) and hésitent (CVCVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses hésitait with hésitent
A purely visual mix-up. hésitait (^((h muet))\e.zi.tɛ\) and hésitent (^((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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44455, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hésitait is recorded at frequency rank #30,643, classified as averb, pronounced ^((h muet))\e.zi.tɛ\. hésitent is at rank #13,812, 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 44455, this pair ranks #210,342 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hésitait vs hésitent
Shared letters: histé. Private to "hésitait": a. Private to "hésitent": en.
"hésitait" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC · "hésitent" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hésitait" for "hésitent" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "hésitait" or "hésitent" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "hésitait" and "hésitent" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "hésitait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hésitent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #210,342 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hésitait" and "hésitent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hésita vs hésitait". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #210,342 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.