Which to use
“poussaient” and “poussent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,464
- “poussaient” frequency rank
- #8,288
- “poussent” frequency rank
- 47752
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | poussaient | poussent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de pousser. | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de pousser. |
Where the eye mixes poussaient and poussent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. poussaient runs 10 letters (CVVCCVVVCC) against poussent's 8 (CVVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: poussaient vs poussent
A purely visual mix-up. poussaient (\pu.sɛ\) and poussent (\pus\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47752, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
poussaient is recorded at frequency rank #39,464, classified as averb, pronounced \pu.sɛ\. poussent is at rank #8,288, tagged as averb, pronounced \pus\.
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 47752, this pair ranks #184,427 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of poussaient vs poussent
Shared letters: enopstu. Private to "poussaient": ai. Private to "poussent": -.
"poussaient" · 10 letters · shape CVVCCVVVCC · "poussent" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- poussaient ← opussaient · posusaient · pousaient · pousasient · poussaeint · poussaiennt · poussaientt · poussaietn
- poussent ← opussent · posusent · pousent · pousesnt · poussennt · poussentt · poussetn · poussnet
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "poussaient" and "poussent" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "poussaient" vs "poussent" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "poussaient" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "poussent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #184,427 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "poussaient" and "poussent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "poucet vs poussaient". 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 #184,427 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.