vieillissantvsvieillissentWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: vieillissant is a adjective, vieillissent is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“vieillissant” is an adjective and “vieillissent” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#21,806
“vieillissant” frequency rank
#35,770
“vieillissent” frequency rank
57576
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vieillissant vieillissent
Definition Qui devient vieux. Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de vieillir.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set vieillissant and vieillissent apart are highlighted. They share 11 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

12 ch
vieillissant
12 ch
vieillissent

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vieillissant is \vjɛ.ji.sɑ̃\ while vieillissent is \vjɛ.jis\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “vieillissant” becomes e in “vieillissent”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57576, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vieillissant is recorded at frequency rank #21,806, classified as anadj, pronounced \vjɛ.ji.sɑ̃\. vieillissent is at rank #35,770, tagged as averb, pronounced \vjɛ.jis\.

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 57576, this pair ranks #114,207 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vieillissant vs vieillissent

Shared letters: eilnstv. Private to "vieillissant": a. Private to "vieillissent": -.

"vieillissant" · 12 letters · shape CVVVCCVCCVCC  ·  "vieillissent" · 12 letters · shape CVVVCCVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vieillissantiveillissant · veiillissant · vieililssant · vieilissant · vieillisant · vieillisasnt · vieillissannt · vieillissantt
  • vieillissentiveillissent · veiillissent · vieililssent · vieilissent · vieillisent · vieillisesnt · vieillissennt · vieillissentt

Frequency comparison

vieillissant#21,806
vieillissent#35,770

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vieillissant" and "vieillissent" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vieillissant" is an adjective and "vieillissent" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "vieillissant" or "vieillissent"?
"vieillissant" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,806 in our French list, against #35,770 for "vieillissent". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering vieillissant vs vieillissent

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “vieillissant”; for a verb, it's “vieillissent”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “vieillissant” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list