Which to use
“détendue” is an adjective and “devenue” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #27,419
- “détendue” frequency rank
- #2,033
- “devenue” frequency rank
- 29452
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | détendue | devenue |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de détendu. | Participe passé féminin singulier de devenir. |
Where the eye mixes détendue and devenue
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. détendue runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVV) against devenue's 7 (CVCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: détendue vs devenue
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: détendue is \de.tɑ̃.dy\ while devenue is \də.və.ny\. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29452, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
détendue is recorded at frequency rank #27,419, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.tɑ̃.dy\. devenue is at rank #2,033, tagged as averb, pronounced \də.və.ny\.
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 29452, this pair ranks #316,566 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of détendue vs devenue
Shared letters: denu. Private to "détendue": té. Private to "devenue": v.
"détendue" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVV · "devenue" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- devenue ← ddevenue · deevnue · deveneu · devennue · deveune · devneue · devvenue · dveenue
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "détendue" for "devenue" ever safe?
Frequency check: "détendue" vs "devenue" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "détendue" and "devenue" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "détendue" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "devenue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #316,566 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "détendue" and "devenue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "détendue vs détendus". 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 #316,566 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.