Which to use
“hésiter” and “hésitez” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,722
- “hésiter” frequency rank
- #6,097
- “hésitez” frequency rank
- 14819
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hésiter | hésitez |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Être incertain, indécis sur le parti, sur la résolution que l’on doit prendre. | Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de hésiter. |
Same sound, different letters: hésiter vs hésitez
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. hésiter and hésitez follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Homophone desk: hésiter vs hésitez
This is the hard kind. hésiter and hésitez are pronounced identically (^((h muet))\e.zi.te\) and both work as averb. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by a single letter - r in “hésiter” becomes z in “hésitez”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14819, 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\. 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 14819, this pair ranks #395,089 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of hésiter vs hésitez
Shared letters: ehisté. Private to "hésiter": r. Private to "hésitez": z.
"hésiter" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "hésitez" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "hésiter" and "hésitez" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "hésiter" vs "hésitez" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "hésiter" 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 #395,089 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hésiter" and "hésitez" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hésiter vs hésiterai". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #395,089 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.