hésitentvshésiteraTell them apart

Which to use

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

#13,812
“hésitent” frequency rank
#35,542
“hésitera” frequency rank
49354
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hésitent hésitera
Definition Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de hésiter. Troisième personne du singulier du futur de hésiter.

Where the eye mixes hésitent and hésitera

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. hésitent (CVCVCVCC) and hésitera (CVCVCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

8 ch
hésitent
8 ch
hésitera

Why the eye confuses hésitent with hésitera

A purely visual mix-up. hésitent (^((h muet))\e.zit\) and hésitera (^((h muet))\e.zi.tə.ʁa\) 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 49354, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hésitent is recorded at frequency rank #13,812, classified as averb, pronounced ^((h muet))\e.zit\. hésitera is at rank #35,542, tagged as averb, pronounced ^((h muet))\e.zi.tə.ʁa\.

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 49354, this pair ranks #171,380 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hésitent vs hésitera

Shared letters: ehisté. Private to "hésitent": n. Private to "hésitera": ar.

"hésitent" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC  ·  "hésitera" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "hésitent" and "hésitera" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (^((h muet))\e.zit\ versus ^((h muet))\e.zi.tə.ʁa\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "hésitent" or "hésitera"?
"hésitent" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,812 in our French list, against #35,542 for "hésitera". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "hésitent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hésitera" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #171,380 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hésitent" and "hésitera" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hésitera vs hésiterais". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #171,380 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