laissaitvslaisseraitWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“laissait” and “laisserait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#8,260
“laissait” frequency rank
#16,666
“laisserait” frequency rank
24926
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature laissait laisserait
Definition Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de laisser. Troisième personne du singulier du conditionnel présent de laisser.

Where the eye mixes laissait and laisserait

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. laissait runs 8 letters (CVVCCVVC) against laisserait's 10 (CVVCCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
laissait
10 ch
laisserait

Look-alike desk: laissait vs laisserait

A purely visual mix-up. laissait (\lɛ.sɛ\) and laisserait (\lɛ.sə.ʁɛ\) 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 24926, 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\. laisserait is at rank #16,666, tagged as averb, pronounced \lɛ.sə.ʁɛ\.

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 24926, this pair ranks #343,784 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of laissait vs laisserait

Shared letters: ailst. Private to "laissait": -. Private to "laisserait": er.

"laissait" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVVC  ·  "laisserait" · 10 letters · shape CVVCCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • laissait ← alissait · laisait · laisasit · laissaitt · laissati · laissiat · lasisait · liassait
  • laisserait ← alisserait · laiserait · laisesrait · laissearit · laisseraitt · laisserati · laisseriat · laisserrait

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "laissait" and "laisserait" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\lɛ.sɛ\ versus \lɛ.sə.ʁɛ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "laissait" vs "laisserait" - which ranks higher?
"laissait" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,260 in our French list, against #16,666 for "laisserait". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "laissait" and "laisserait" 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 "laisserait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #343,784 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "laissait" and "laisserait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "laisserait 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 #343,784 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list