Which to use
“poussait” and “poussent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #22,980
- “poussait” frequency rank
- #8,288
- “poussent” frequency rank
- 31268
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | poussait | poussent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de pousser. | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de pousser. |
Where the eye mixes poussait and poussent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses poussait with poussent
A purely visual mix-up. poussait (\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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31268, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
poussait is recorded at frequency rank #22,980, 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 31268, this pair ranks #304,866 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of poussait vs poussent
Shared letters: opstu. Private to "poussait": ai. Private to "poussent": en.
"poussait" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVVC · "poussent" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "poussait" for "poussent" ever safe?
Which is more common, "poussait" or "poussent"?
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 "poussait" 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 #304,866 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "poussait" and "poussent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "poussait vs pousserait". 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 #304,866 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.