Which to use
“utilisaient” and “utilisent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,032
- “utilisaient” frequency rank
- #3,425
- “utilisent” frequency rank
- 20457
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | utilisaient | utilisent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de utiliser. | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de utiliser. |
Where the eye mixes utilisaient and utilisent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. utilisaient runs 11 letters (VCVCVCVVVCC) against utilisent's 9 (VCVCVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: utilisaient vs utilisent
A purely visual mix-up. utilisaient (\y.ti.li.zɛ\) and utilisent (\y.ti.liz\) 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 20457, 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\. utilisent is at rank #3,425, tagged as averb, pronounced \y.ti.liz\.
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 20457, this pair ranks #368,170 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of utilisaient vs utilisent
Shared letters: eilnstu. Private to "utilisaient": a. Private to "utilisent": -.
"utilisaient" · 11 letters · shape VCVCVCVVVCC · "utilisent" · 9 letters · shape VCVCVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- utilisaient ← tuilisaient · uitlisaient · utiilsaient · utiliasient · utilisaeint · utilisaiennt · utilisaientt · utilisaietn
- utilisent ← tuilisent · uitlisent · utiilsent · utiliesnt · utilisennt · utilisentt · utilisetn · utilisnet
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "utilisaient" and "utilisent" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "utilisaient" or "utilisent"?
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 "utilisent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #368,170 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "utilisaient" and "utilisent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "utilement vs utilisent". 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 #368,170 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.