marchantvsmarchentWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: marchant is a adjective, marchent is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“marchant” is an adjective and “marchent” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#12,416
“marchant” frequency rank
#8,883
“marchent” frequency rank
21299
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature marchant marchent
Definition Qui marche. Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de marcher.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set marchant and marchent apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
marchant
8 ch
marchent

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: marchant is \maʁ.ʃɑ̃\ while marchent is \maʁʃ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “marchant” becomes e in “marchent”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21299, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

marchant is recorded at frequency rank #12,416, classified as anadj, pronounced \maʁ.ʃɑ̃\. marchent is at rank #8,883, tagged as averb, pronounced \maʁʃ\.

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 21299, this pair ranks #363,890 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of marchant vs marchent

Shared letters: achmnrt. Private to "marchant": -. Private to "marchent": e.

"marchant" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCC  ·  "marchent" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • marchantamrchant · macrhant · marcahnt · marcchant · marchannt · marchantt · marchatn · marchhant
  • marchentamrchent · macrhent · marcchent · marcehnt · marchennt · marchentt · marchetn · marchhent

Frequency comparison

marchant#12,416
marchent#8,883

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "marchant" and "marchent" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "marchant" is an adjective and "marchent" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "marchant" or "marchent"?
"marchent" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,883 in our French list, against #12,416 for "marchant". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering marchant vs marchent

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “marchant”; for a verb, it's “marchent”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “marchant” 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