Which to use
“utilisaient” and “utilisait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,032
- “utilisaient” frequency rank
- #11,318
- “utilisait” frequency rank
- 28350
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | utilisaient | utilisait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de utiliser. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de utiliser. |
Same sound, different letters: utilisaient vs utilisait
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 9 letters. utilisaient runs 11 letters (VCVCVCVVVCC) against utilisait's 9 (VCVCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Homophone desk: utilisaient vs utilisait
This is the hard kind. utilisaient and utilisait are pronounced identically (\y.ti.li.zɛ\) and both work as averb. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28350, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
utilisaient is recorded at frequency rank #17,032, classified as averb, pronounced \y.ti.li.zɛ\. 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 28350, this pair ranks #323,378 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of utilisaient vs utilisait
Shared letters: ailstu. Private to "utilisaient": en. Private to "utilisait": -.
"utilisaient" · 11 letters · shape VCVCVCVVVCC · "utilisait" · 9 letters · shape VCVCVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- utilisaient ← tuilisaient · uitlisaient · utiilsaient · utiliasient · utilisaeint · utilisaiennt · utilisaientt · utilisaietn
- utilisait ← tuilisait · uitlisait · utiilsait · utiliasit · utilisaitt · utilisati · utilisiat · utilissait
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "utilisaient" for "utilisait" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "utilisaient" or "utilisait" show up more?
After this comparison
You've separated the homophone pair "utilisaient" / "utilisait". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "utilisaient" 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 #323,378 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "utilisaient" and "utilisait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "utilisa vs utilisait". 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 #323,378 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.