Which to use
“attende” and “attendre” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,535
- “attende” frequency rank
- #784
- “attendre” frequency rank
- 22319
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | attende | attendre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif de attendre. | Ne pas bouger, rester là où l’on est pour la venue de quelque chose ou de quelqu’un. |
Where the eye mixes attende and attendre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. attende runs 7 letters (VCCVCCV) against attendre's 8 (VCCVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses attende with attendre
A purely visual mix-up. attende (\a.tɑ̃d\) and attendre (\a.tɑ̃dʁ\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22319, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
attende is recorded at frequency rank #21,535, classified as averb, pronounced \a.tɑ̃d\. attendre is at rank #784, tagged as averb, pronounced \a.tɑ̃dʁ\.
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 22319, this pair ranks #358,641 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of attende vs attendre
Shared letters: adent. Private to "attende": -. Private to "attendre": r.
"attende" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV · "attendre" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "attende" for "attendre" ever safe?
Which is more common, "attende" or "attendre"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "attende" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "attendre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #358,641 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "attende" and "attendre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "attende vs atténuée". 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 #358,641 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.