Which to use
“partait” is a verb and “partants” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,015
- “partait” frequency rank
- #32,103
- “partants” frequency rank
- 44118
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | partait | partants |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de partir. | Masculin pluriel de partant. |
Where the eye mixes partait and partants
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. partait runs 7 letters (CVCCVVC) against partants's 8 (CVCCVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses partait with partants
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: partait is \paʁ.tɛ\ while partants is \paʁ.tɑ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44118, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
partait is recorded at frequency rank #12,015, classified as averb, pronounced \paʁ.tɛ\. partants is at rank #32,103, tagged as anadj, pronounced \paʁ.tɑ̃\.
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 44118, this pair ranks #212,936 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of partait vs partants
Shared letters: aprt. Private to "partait": i. Private to "partants": ns.
"partait" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "partants" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "partait" for "partants" ever safe?
Which is more common, "partait" or "partants"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "partait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "partants" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #212,936 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "partait" and "partants" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "partants vs portante". 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 #212,936 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.