Which to use
“lançaient” and “lançait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #42,974
- “lançaient” frequency rank
- #22,918
- “lançait” frequency rank
- 65892
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lançaient | lançait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de lancer. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de lancer. |
Same sound, different letters: lançaient vs lançait
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 7 letters. lançaient runs 9 letters (CVCCVVVCC) against lançait's 7 (CVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Homophone desk: lançaient vs lançait
This is the hard kind. lançaient and lançait are pronounced identically (\lɑ̃.sɛ\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65892, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lançaient is recorded at frequency rank #42,974, classified as averb, pronounced \lɑ̃.sɛ\. lançait is at rank #22,918, tagged as averb, pronounced \lɑ̃.sɛ\.
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 65892, this pair ranks #70,316 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lançaient vs lançait
Shared letters: ailntç. Private to "lançaient": e. Private to "lançait": -.
"lançaient" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVVCC · "lançait" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lançaient" for "lançait" ever safe?
Which is more common, "lançaient" or "lançait"?
After this comparison
You've separated the homophone pair "lançaient" / "lançait". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "lançaient" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lançait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #70,316 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lançaient" and "lançait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lançait vs lavait". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #70,316 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.