Which to use
“utilisa” and “utilisais” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #40,068
- “utilisa” frequency rank
- #21,803
- “utilisais” frequency rank
- 61871
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | utilisa | utilisais |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de utiliser. | Première personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de utiliser. |
Where the eye mixes utilisa and utilisais
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. utilisa runs 7 letters (VCVCVCV) against utilisais's 9 (VCVCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between utilisa and utilisais
A purely visual mix-up. utilisa (\y.ti.li.za\) and utilisais (\y.ti.li.zɛ\) 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) - “utilisa” sits inside “utilisais”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61871, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
utilisa is recorded at frequency rank #40,068, classified as averb, pronounced \y.ti.li.za\. utilisais is at rank #21,803, tagged as averb, pronounced \y.ti.li.zɛ\.
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 61871, this pair ranks #90,002 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of utilisa vs utilisais
Shared letters: ailstu. Private to "utilisa": -. Private to "utilisais": -.
"utilisa" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVCV · "utilisais" · 9 letters · shape VCVCVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "utilisa" and "utilisais" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "utilisa" vs "utilisais" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "utilisa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "utilisais" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #90,002 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "utilisa" and "utilisais" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "utilisais vs utiliserais". 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 #90,002 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.