Which to use
“obligeait” is a verb and “obligeant” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #29,887
- “obligeait” frequency rank
- #14,524
- “obligeant” frequency rank
- 44411
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | obligeait | obligeant |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de obliger. | Qui aime à obliger, à faire plaisir. |
Where the eye mixes obligeait and obligeant
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. obligeait (VCCVCVVVC) and obligeant (VCCVCVVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses obligeait with obligeant
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: obligeait is \ɔ.bli.ʒɛ\ while obligeant is \ɔ.bli.ʒɑ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - i in “obligeait” becomes n in “obligeant”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44411, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
obligeait is recorded at frequency rank #29,887, classified as averb, pronounced \ɔ.bli.ʒɛ\. obligeant is at rank #14,524, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɔ.bli.ʒɑ̃\.
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 44411, this pair ranks #210,674 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of obligeait vs obligeant
Shared letters: abegilot. Private to "obligeait": -. Private to "obligeant": n.
"obligeait" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVVVC · "obligeant" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "obligeait" and "obligeant" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "obligeait" or "obligeant"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "obligeait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "obligeant" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #210,674 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "obligeait" and "obligeant" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "obligea vs obligeait". 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 #210,674 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.