Which to use
“distance” is a noun and “distante” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,518
- “distance” frequency rank
- #20,983
- “distante” frequency rank
- 22501
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | distance | distante |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Intervalle ; longueur. | Féminin singulier de distant. |
Where the eye mixes distance and distante
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: distance vs distante
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: distance is \dis.tɑ̃s\ while distante is \dis.tɑ̃t\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - c in “distance” becomes t in “distante”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22501, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
distance is recorded at frequency rank #1,518, classified as anoun, pronounced \dis.tɑ̃s\. distante is at rank #20,983, tagged as anadj, pronounced \dis.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 22501, this pair ranks #357,648 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of distance vs distante
Shared letters: adeinst. Private to "distance": c. Private to "distante": -.
"distance" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV · "distante" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "distance" for "distante" ever safe?
Which is more common, "distance" or "distante"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "distance" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "distante" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #357,648 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "distance" and "distante" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "distante vs distantes". 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 #357,648 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.