Which to use
“pointait” and “pointent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,485
- “pointait” frequency rank
- #18,830
- “pointent” frequency rank
- 56315
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pointait | pointent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de pointer. | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de pointer. |
Where the eye mixes pointait and pointent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: pointait vs pointent
A purely visual mix-up. pointait (\pwɛ̃.tɛ\) and pointent (\pwɛ̃t\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56315, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pointait is recorded at frequency rank #37,485, classified as averb, pronounced \pwɛ̃.tɛ\. pointent is at rank #18,830, tagged as averb, pronounced \pwɛ̃t\.
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 56315, this pair ranks #121,851 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pointait vs pointent
Shared letters: inopt. Private to "pointait": a. Private to "pointent": e.
"pointait" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVVC · "pointent" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pointait" for "pointent" ever safe?
Frequency check: "pointait" vs "pointent" - 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 "pointait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pointent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #121,851 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pointait" and "pointent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pointent vs pontet". 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 #121,851 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.