Which to use
“refusèrent” and “requièrent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #42,572
- “refusèrent” frequency rank
- #28,718
- “requièrent” frequency rank
- 71290
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | refusèrent | requièrent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel du passé simple de refuser. | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de requérir. |
Where the eye mixes refusèrent and requièrent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. refusèrent (CVCVCVCVCC) and requièrent (CVCVVVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between refusèrent and requièrent
A purely visual mix-up. refusèrent (\ʁə.fy.zɛʁ\) and requièrent (\ʁə.kjɛʁ\) 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 71290, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
refusèrent is recorded at frequency rank #42,572, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.fy.zɛʁ\. requièrent is at rank #28,718, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.kjɛʁ\.
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 71290, this pair ranks #48,097 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of refusèrent vs requièrent
Shared letters: enrtuè. Private to "refusèrent": fs. Private to "requièrent": iq.
"refusèrent" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVCVCC · "requièrent" · 10 letters · shape CVCVVVCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "refusèrent" and "requièrent" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "refusèrent" or "requièrent" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "refusèrent" and "requièrent" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "refusèrent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "requièrent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #48,097 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "refusèrent" and "requièrent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "refuseraient vs refusèrent". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #48,097 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.