Which to use
“prévoyaient” and “prévoyait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,995
- “prévoyaient” frequency rank
- #13,879
- “prévoyait” frequency rank
- 52874
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | prévoyaient | prévoyait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’imparfait de prévoir. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de prévoir. |
Same sound, different letters: prévoyaient vs prévoyait
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 9 letters. prévoyaient runs 11 letters (CCVCVVVVVCC) against prévoyait's 9 (CCVCVVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Same sound, different spelling - prévoyaient / prévoyait
This is the hard kind. prévoyaient and prévoyait are pronounced identically (\pʁe.vwa.jɛ\) and both work as averb. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52874, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
prévoyaient is recorded at frequency rank #38,995, classified as averb, pronounced \pʁe.vwa.jɛ\. prévoyait is at rank #13,879, tagged as averb, pronounced \pʁe.vwa.jɛ\.
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 52874, this pair ranks #144,662 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of prévoyaient vs prévoyait
Shared letters: aioprtvyé. Private to "prévoyaient": en. Private to "prévoyait": -.
"prévoyaient" · 11 letters · shape CCVCVVVVVCC · "prévoyait" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVVVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "prévoyaient" and "prévoyait" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "prévoyaient" or "prévoyait"?
After this comparison
You've separated the homophone pair "prévoyaient" / "prévoyait". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "prévoyaient" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "prévoyait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #144,662 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "prévoyaient" and "prévoyait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "prévalait vs prévoyait". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #144,662 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.