Which to use
“raconta” and “racontait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,991
- “raconta” frequency rank
- #14,342
- “racontait” frequency rank
- 56333
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | raconta | racontait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de raconter. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de raconter. |
Where the eye mixes raconta and racontait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. raconta runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against racontait's 9 (CVCVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses raconta with racontait
A purely visual mix-up. raconta (\ʁa.kɔ̃.ta\) and racontait (\ʁa.kɔ̃.tɛ\) 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 extra letter(s) - “raconta” sits inside “racontait”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56333, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
raconta is recorded at frequency rank #41,991, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁa.kɔ̃.ta\. racontait is at rank #14,342, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁa.kɔ̃.tɛ\.
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 56333, this pair ranks #121,741 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of raconta vs racontait
Shared letters: acnort. Private to "raconta": -. Private to "racontait": i.
"raconta" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "racontait" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "raconta" for "racontait" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "raconta" or "racontait" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "raconta" and "racontait" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "raconta" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "racontait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #121,741 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "raconta" and "racontait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "raconta vs racontés". 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 #121,741 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.