Which to use
“laissait” and “laissent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,260
- “laissait” frequency rank
- #3,934
- “laissent” frequency rank
- 12194
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | laissait | laissent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de laisser. | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de laisser. |
Where the eye mixes laissait and laissent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between laissait and laissent
A purely visual mix-up. laissait (\lɛ.sɛ\) and laissent (\lɛs\) 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 12194, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
laissait is recorded at frequency rank #8,260, classified as averb, pronounced \lɛ.sɛ\. laissent is at rank #3,934, tagged as averb, pronounced \lɛs\.
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 12194, this pair ranks #406,220 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of laissait vs laissent
Shared letters: ailst. Private to "laissait": -. Private to "laissent": en.
"laissait" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVVC · "laissent" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "laissait" and "laissent" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "laissait" vs "laissent" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "laissait" and "laissent" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "laissait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "laissent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #406,220 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "laissait" and "laissent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "laissent 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 #406,220 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.