Which to use
“utilisa” and “utilisait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #40,068
- “utilisa” frequency rank
- #11,318
- “utilisait” frequency rank
- 51386
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | utilisa | utilisait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de utiliser. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de utiliser. |
Where the eye mixes utilisa and utilisait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. utilisa runs 7 letters (VCVCVCV) against utilisait's 9 (VCVCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: utilisa vs utilisait
A purely visual mix-up. utilisa (\y.ti.li.za\) and utilisait (\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 “utilisait”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51386, 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\. utilisait is at rank #11,318, 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 51386, this pair ranks #155,388 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of utilisa vs utilisait
Shared letters: ailstu. Private to "utilisa": -. Private to "utilisait": -.
"utilisa" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVCV · "utilisait" · 9 letters · shape VCVCVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "utilisa" and "utilisait" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "utilisa" or "utilisait"?
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 "utilisa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "utilisait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #155,388 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "utilisa" and "utilisait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "utilisa vs utilisais". 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 #155,388 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.