Which to use
“hésiter” and “hésites” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,722
- “hésiter” frequency rank
- #28,992
- “hésites” frequency rank
- 37714
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hésiter | hésites |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Être incertain, indécis sur le parti, sur la résolution que l’on doit prendre. | Deuxième personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de hésiter. |
Where the eye mixes hésiter and hésites
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. hésiter and hésites follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between hésiter and hésites
A purely visual mix-up. hésiter (^((h muet))\e.zi.te\) and hésites (^((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 a single letter - r in “hésiter” becomes s in “hésites”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37714, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hésiter is recorded at frequency rank #8,722, classified as averb, pronounced ^((h muet))\e.zi.te\. hésites is at rank #28,992, 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 37714, this pair ranks #260,480 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hésiter vs hésites
Shared letters: ehisté. Private to "hésiter": r. Private to "hésites": -.
"hésiter" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "hésites" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "hésiter" and "hésites" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "hésiter" vs "hésites" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "hésiter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hésites" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #260,480 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hésiter" and "hésites" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hésita vs hésites". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #260,480 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.