Which to use
“savaient” and “suivaient” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,241
- “savaient” frequency rank
- #22,107
- “suivaient” frequency rank
- 29348
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | savaient | suivaient |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’imparfait de savoir. | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’imparfait du verbe suivre. |
Where the eye mixes savaient and suivaient
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses savaient with suivaient
A purely visual mix-up. savaient (\sa.vɛ\) and suivaient (\sɥi.vɛ\) 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 29348, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
savaient is recorded at frequency rank #7,241, classified as averb, pronounced \sa.vɛ\. suivaient is at rank #22,107, tagged as averb, pronounced \sɥi.vɛ\.
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 29348, this pair ranks #317,242 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of savaient vs suivaient
Shared letters: aeinstv. Private to "savaient": -. Private to "suivaient": u.
"savaient" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVVCC · "suivaient" · 9 letters · shape CVVCVVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "savaient" and "suivaient" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "savaient" or "suivaient"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "savaient" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "suivaient" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #317,242 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "savaient" and "suivaient" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "suivaient vs suivais". 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 #317,242 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.