Which to use
“intervenait” is a verb and “intervenant” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #38,866
- “intervenait” frequency rank
- #14,062
- “intervenant” frequency rank
- 52928
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | intervenait | intervenant |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de intervenir. | Qui intervient dans une instance, dans un procès. |
Where the eye mixes intervenait and intervenant
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. intervenait (VCCVCCVCVVC) and intervenant (VCCVCCVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between intervenait and intervenant
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: intervenait is \ɛ̃.tɛʁ.və.nɛ\ while intervenant is \ɛ̃.tɛʁ.və.nɑ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - i in “intervenait” becomes n in “intervenant”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52928, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
intervenait is recorded at frequency rank #38,866, classified as averb, pronounced \ɛ̃.tɛʁ.və.nɛ\. intervenant is at rank #14,062, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.tɛʁ.və.nɑ̃\.
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 52928, this pair ranks #144,301 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of intervenait vs intervenant
Shared letters: aeinrtv. Private to "intervenait": -. Private to "intervenant": -.
"intervenait" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVVC · "intervenant" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- intervenait ← inetrvenait · inntervenait · interevnait · interrvenait · interveanit · intervenaitt · intervenati · interveniat
- intervenant ← inetrvenant · inntervenant · interevnant · interrvenant · interveannt · intervenannt · intervenantt · intervenatn
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "intervenait" for "intervenant" ever safe?
Frequency check: "intervenait" vs "intervenant" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "intervenait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "intervenant" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #144,301 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "intervenait" and "intervenant" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "intervenait vs intervenants". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #144,301 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.