prêtaitvsprêtantWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“prêtait” and “prêtant” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#33,851
“prêtait” frequency rank
#31,664
“prêtant” frequency rank
65515
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature prêtait prêtant
Definition Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de prêter. Participe présent de prêter.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set prêtait and prêtant apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
prêtait
7 ch
prêtant

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. prêtait (\pʁɛ.tɛ\) and prêtant (\pʁɛ.tɑ̃\) 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 a single letter - i in “prêtait” becomes n in “prêtant”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65515, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

prêtait is recorded at frequency rank #33,851, classified as averb, pronounced \pʁɛ.tɛ\. prêtant is at rank #31,664, tagged as averb, pronounced \pʁɛ.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 65515, this pair ranks #71,989 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of prêtait vs prêtant

Shared letters: aprtê. Private to "prêtait": i. Private to "prêtant": n.

"prêtait" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVVC  ·  "prêtant" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCC

Frequency comparison

prêtait#33,851
prêtant#31,664

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "prêtait" and "prêtant" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\pʁɛ.tɛ\ versus \pʁɛ.tɑ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "prêtait" or "prêtant"?
"prêtant" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,664 in our French list, against #33,851 for "prêtait". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering prêtait vs prêtant

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “prêtait” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list