lançaientvslancementWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: lançaient is a verb, lancement is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“lançaient” is a verb and “lancement” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#42,974
“lançaient” frequency rank
#3,013
“lancement” frequency rank
45987
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lançaient lancement
Definition Troisième personne du pluriel de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de lancer. Action de lancer.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set lançaient and lancement apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
lançaient
9 ch
lancement

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lançaient is \lɑ̃.sɛ\ while lancement is \lɑ̃s.mɑ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45987, 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\. lancement is at rank #3,013, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lɑ̃s.mɑ̃\.

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 45987, this pair ranks #198,527 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lançaient vs lancement

Shared letters: aelnt. Private to "lançaient": . Private to "lancement": cm.

"lançaient" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVVCC  ·  "lancement" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lancementalncement · lacnement · lanccement · lanceemnt · lancemennt · lancementt · lancemetn · lancemment

Frequency comparison

lançaient#42,974
lancement#3,013

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lançaient" and "lancement" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lançaient" is a verb and "lancement" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "lançaient" or "lancement"?
"lancement" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,013 in our French list, against #42,974 for "lançaient". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering lançaient vs lancement

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “lançaient”; for a noun, it's “lancement”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “lançaient” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list