Which to use
“tombent” and “tombèrent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,618
- “tombent” frequency rank
- #42,658
- “tombèrent” frequency rank
- 48276
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tombent | tombèrent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de tomber. | Troisième personne du pluriel du passé simple de tomber. |
Where the eye mixes tombent and tombèrent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. tombent runs 7 letters (CVCCVCC) against tombèrent's 9 (CVCCVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses tombent with tombèrent
A purely visual mix-up. tombent (\tɔ̃b\) and tombèrent (\tɔ̃.bɛʁ\) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48276, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tombent is recorded at frequency rank #5,618, classified as averb, pronounced \tɔ̃b\. tombèrent is at rank #42,658, tagged as averb, pronounced \tɔ̃.bɛʁ\.
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 48276, this pair ranks #180,203 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tombent vs tombèrent
Shared letters: bemnot. Private to "tombent": -. Private to "tombèrent": rè.
"tombent" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "tombèrent" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- tombent ← otmbent · tmobent · tobment · tombbent · tombennt · tombentt · tombetn · tombnet
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tombent" for "tombèrent" ever safe?
Which is more common, "tombent" or "tombèrent"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "tombent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tombèrent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #180,203 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tombent" and "tombèrent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tolèrent vs tombèrent". 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 #180,203 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.