réussissaitvsréussissantTell them apart

Which to use

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

#37,055
“réussissait” frequency rank
#31,719
“réussissant” frequency rank
68774
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature réussissait réussissant
Definition Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif imparfait de réussir. Participe présent de réussir.

Where the eye mixes réussissait and réussissant

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. réussissait (CVVCCVCCVVC) and réussissant (CVVCCVCCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

11 ch
réussissait
11 ch
réussissant

Look-alike desk: réussissait vs réussissant

A purely visual mix-up. réussissait (\ʁe.y.si.sɛ\) and réussissant (\ʁe.y.si.sɑ̃\) 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 “réussissait” becomes n in “réussissant”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68774, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

réussissait is recorded at frequency rank #37,055, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁe.y.si.sɛ\. réussissant is at rank #31,719, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁe.y.si.sɑ̃\.

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 68774, this pair ranks #57,768 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of réussissait vs réussissant

Shared letters: airstué. Private to "réussissait": -. Private to "réussissant": n.

"réussissait" · 11 letters · shape CVVCCVCCVVC  ·  "réussissant" · 11 letters · shape CVVCCVCCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "réussissait" for "réussissant" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\ʁe.y.si.sɛ\ versus \ʁe.y.si.sɑ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "réussissait" vs "réussissant" - which ranks higher?
"réussissant" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,719 in our French list, against #37,055 for "réussissait". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "réussissait" and "réussissant" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "réussissait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "réussissant" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #57,768 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "réussissait" and "réussissant" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "réunissait vs réussissait". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #57,768 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list