rêvaientvsreviensWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#45,857
“rêvaient” frequency rank
#3,102
“reviens” frequency rank
48959
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rêvaient reviens
Definition Troisième personne du pluriel de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de rêver. Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de revenir.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set rêvaient and reviens apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
rêvaient
7 ch
reviens

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. rêvaient (\ʁɛ.vɛ\) and reviens (\ʁə.vjɛ̃\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48959, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rêvaient is recorded at frequency rank #45,857, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁɛ.vɛ\. reviens is at rank #3,102, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.vjɛ̃\.

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 48959, this pair ranks #174,665 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of rêvaient vs reviens

Shared letters: einrv. Private to "rêvaient": atê. Private to "reviens": s.

"rêvaient" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVVCC  ·  "reviens" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • revienserviens · reivens · reveins · revienns · revienss · reviesn · revines · revviens

Frequency comparison

rêvaient#45,857
reviens#3,102

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "rêvaient" and "reviens" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʁɛ.vɛ\ versus \ʁə.vjɛ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "rêvaient" or "reviens"?
"reviens" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,102 in our French list, against #45,857 for "rêvaient". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering rêvaient vs reviens

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “rêvaient” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list