Which to use
“défends” and “détends” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,577
- “défends” frequency rank
- #40,734
- “détends” frequency rank
- 54311
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | défends | détends |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne de l’indicatif présent du verbe défendre. | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de détendre. |
Where the eye mixes défends and détends
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. défends and détends follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between défends and détends
A purely visual mix-up. défends (\de.fɑ̃\) and détends (\de.tɑ̃\) 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 a single letter - f in “défends” becomes t in “détends”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54311, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
défends is recorded at frequency rank #13,577, classified as averb, pronounced \de.fɑ̃\. détends is at rank #40,734, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.tɑ̃\.
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 54311, this pair ranks #134,880 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of défends vs détends
Shared letters: densé. Private to "défends": f. Private to "détends": t.
"défends" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC · "détends" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "défends" and "détends" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "défends" or "détends" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "défends" and "détends" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "défends" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "détends" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #134,880 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "défends" and "détends" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "détends vs détendus". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #134,880 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.