Which to use
“utilisaient” and “utilisant” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,032
- “utilisaient” frequency rank
- #3,112
- “utilisant” frequency rank
- 20144
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | utilisaient | utilisant |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de utiliser. | Participe présent du verbe utiliser. |
Where the eye mixes utilisaient and utilisant
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. utilisaient runs 11 letters (VCVCVCVVVCC) against utilisant's 9 (VCVCVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: utilisaient vs utilisant
A purely visual mix-up. utilisaient (\y.ti.li.zɛ\) and utilisant (\y.ti.li.zɑ̃\) 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 20144, 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\. utilisant is at rank #3,112, tagged as averb, pronounced \y.ti.li.zɑ̃\.
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 20144, this pair ranks #369,740 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of utilisaient vs utilisant
Shared letters: ailnstu. Private to "utilisaient": e. Private to "utilisant": -.
"utilisaient" · 11 letters · shape VCVCVCVVVCC · "utilisant" · 9 letters · shape VCVCVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- utilisaient ← tuilisaient · uitlisaient · utiilsaient · utiliasient · utilisaeint · utilisaiennt · utilisaientt · utilisaietn
- utilisant ← tuilisant · uitlisant · utiilsant · utiliasnt · utilisannt · utilisantt · utilisatn · utilisnat
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "utilisaient" for "utilisant" ever safe?
Which is more common, "utilisaient" or "utilisant"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "utilisaient" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "utilisant" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #369,740 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "utilisaient" and "utilisant" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "utilisa vs utilisant". 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 #369,740 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.