Which to use
“plaignait” and “plaisait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,328
- “plaignait” frequency rank
- #13,659
- “plaisait” frequency rank
- 37987
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | plaignait | plaisait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de plaindre. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de plaire. |
Where the eye mixes plaignait and plaisait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. plaignait runs 9 letters (CCVVCCVVC) against plaisait's 8 (CCVVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between plaignait and plaisait
A purely visual mix-up. plaignait (\plɛ.ɲɛ\) and plaisait (\plɛ.zɛ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37987, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
plaignait is recorded at frequency rank #24,328, classified as averb, pronounced \plɛ.ɲɛ\. plaisait is at rank #13,659, tagged as averb, pronounced \plɛ.zɛ\.
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 37987, this pair ranks #258,527 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of plaignait vs plaisait
Shared letters: ailpt. Private to "plaignait": gn. Private to "plaisait": s.
"plaignait" · 9 letters · shape CCVVCCVVC · "plaisait" · 8 letters · shape CCVVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "plaignait" for "plaisait" ever safe?
Frequency check: "plaignait" vs "plaisait" - which ranks higher?
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 "plaignait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "plaisait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #258,527 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "plaignait" and "plaisait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "peignait vs plaignait". 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 #258,527 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.