Which to use
“détendre” is a verb and “détendue” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,538
- “détendre” frequency rank
- #27,419
- “détendue” frequency rank
- 35957
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | détendre | détendue |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Relâcher ce qui était tendu. | Féminin singulier de détendu. |
Where the eye mixes détendre and détendue
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. détendre (CVCVCCCV) and détendue (CVCVCCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between détendre and détendue
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: détendre is \de.tɑ̃dʁ\ while détendue is \de.tɑ̃.dy\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - r in “détendre” becomes u in “détendue”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35957, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
détendre is recorded at frequency rank #8,538, classified as averb, pronounced \de.tɑ̃dʁ\. détendue is at rank #27,419, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.tɑ̃.dy\.
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 35957, this pair ranks #272,991 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of détendre vs détendue
Shared letters: denté. Private to "détendre": r. Private to "détendue": u.
"détendre" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCCV · "détendue" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "détendre" and "détendue" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "détendre" or "détendue"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "détendre" and "détendue" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "détendre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "détendue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #272,991 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "détendre" and "détendue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "détendue vs détendus". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #272,991 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.