revêtvsrevêtirWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#18,048
“revêt” frequency rank
#26,854
“revêtir” frequency rank
44902
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature revêt revêtir
Definition Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de revêtir. Pourvoir de vêtements quelqu’un qui en a besoin.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
revêt
7 ch
revêtir

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. revêt (\ʁə.vɛ\) and revêtir (\ʁə.ve.tiʁ\) 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) - “revêt” sits inside “revêtir”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44902, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

revêt is recorded at frequency rank #18,048, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.vɛ\. revêtir is at rank #26,854, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.ve.tiʁ\.

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 44902, this pair ranks #206,924 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of revêt vs revêtir

Shared letters: ertvê. Private to "revêt": -. Private to "revêtir": i.

"revêt" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "revêtir" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Frequency comparison

revêt#18,048
revêtir#26,854

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "revêt" and "revêtir" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʁə.vɛ\ versus \ʁə.ve.tiʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "revêt" or "revêtir"?
"revêt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,048 in our French list, against #26,854 for "revêtir". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering revêt vs revêtir

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 “revêt” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list