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 eye mixes lançaient and lancement
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. lançaient (CVCCVVVCC) and lancement (CVCCVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses lançaient with lancement
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": iç. Private to "lancement": cm.
"lançaient" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVVCC · "lancement" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- lancement ← alncement · lacnement · lanccement · lanceemnt · lancemennt · lancementt · lancemetn · lancemment
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lançaient" and "lancement" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "lançaient" or "lancement" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "lançaient" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lancement" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #198,527 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lançaient" and "lancement" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lançaient vs lançait". 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 #198,527 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.