détectéevsdétenteWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: détectée is a verb, détente is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“détectée” is a verb and “détente” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#26,342
“détectée” frequency rank
#8,103
“détente” frequency rank
34445
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature détectée détente
Definition Participe passé féminin singulier de détecter. Diminution progressive de la pression d’un gaz ou d’une vapeur qui augmente de volume, ou bien de la tension d’un ressort qui revient à son équilibre.

Where the eye mixes détectée and détente

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. détectée runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVV) against détente's 7 (CVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
détectée
7 ch
détente

Visual trap between détectée and détente

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: détectée is \de.tɛk.te\ while détente is \de.tɑ̃t\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34445, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

détectée is recorded at frequency rank #26,342, classified as averb, pronounced \de.tɛk.te\. détente is at rank #8,103, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.tɑ̃t\.

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 34445, this pair ranks #283,776 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of détectée vs détente

Shared letters: deté. Private to "détectée": c. Private to "détente": n.

"détectée" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVV  ·  "détente" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "détectée" and "détente" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "détectée" is a verb and "détente" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary French text, does "détectée" or "détente" show up more?
"détente" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,103 in our French list, against #26,342 for "détectée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "détectée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "détente" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #283,776 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "détectée" and "détente" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "détectée vs détestée". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #283,776 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list