Which to use
“laissaient” and “laissant” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,577
- “laissaient” frequency rank
- #3,012
- “laissant” frequency rank
- 22589
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | laissaient | laissant |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de laisser. | Participe présent de laisser. |
Where the eye mixes laissaient and laissant
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. laissaient runs 10 letters (CVVCCVVVCC) against laissant's 8 (CVVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: laissaient vs laissant
A purely visual mix-up. laissaient (\lɛ.sɛ\) and laissant (\lɛ.sɑ̃\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22589, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
laissaient is recorded at frequency rank #19,577, classified as averb, pronounced \lɛ.sɛ\. laissant is at rank #3,012, tagged as averb, pronounced \lɛ.sɑ̃\.
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 22589, this pair ranks #357,166 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of laissaient vs laissant
Shared letters: ailnst. Private to "laissaient": e. Private to "laissant": -.
"laissaient" · 10 letters · shape CVVCCVVVCC · "laissant" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- laissaient ← alissaient · laisaient · laisasient · laissaeint · laissaiennt · laissaientt · laissaietn · laissainet
- laissant ← alissant · laisant · laisasnt · laissannt · laissantt · laissatn · laissnat · lasisant
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "laissaient" for "laissant" ever safe?
Frequency check: "laissaient" vs "laissant" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "laissaient" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "laissant" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #357,166 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "laissaient" and "laissant" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "laissaient vs laissèrent". 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 #357,166 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.