Which to use
“refusa” and “refusait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,038
- “refusa” frequency rank
- #12,851
- “refusait” frequency rank
- 30889
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | refusa | refusait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de refuser. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de refuser. |
Where the eye mixes refusa and refusait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: refusa vs refusait
A purely visual mix-up. refusa (\ʁə.fy.za\) and refusait (\ʁə.fy.zɛ\) 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) - “refusa” sits inside “refusait”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30889, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
refusa is recorded at frequency rank #18,038, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.fy.za\. refusait is at rank #12,851, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.fy.zɛ\.
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 30889, this pair ranks #307,358 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of refusa vs refusait
Shared letters: aefrsu. Private to "refusa": -. Private to "refusait": it.
"refusa" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "refusait" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "refusa" for "refusait" ever safe?
Frequency check: "refusa" vs "refusait" - 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 "refusa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "refusait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #307,358 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "refusa" and "refusait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rébus vs refusa". 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 #307,358 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.