distantvsdistantesTell them apart

Which to use

“distant” and “distantes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#15,852
“distant” frequency rank
#45,551
“distantes” frequency rank
61403
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature distant distantes
Definition Qui est séparé par un intervalle plus ou moins grand. Féminin pluriel de distant.

Where the eye mixes distant and distantes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

7 ch
distant
9 ch
distantes

Visual trap between distant and distantes

A purely visual mix-up. distant (\dis.tɑ̃\) and distantes (\dis.tɑ̃t\) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “distant” sits inside “distantes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61403, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

distant is recorded at frequency rank #15,852, classified as anadj, pronounced \dis.tɑ̃\. distantes is at rank #45,551, 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 61403, this pair ranks #92,498 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of distant vs distantes

Shared letters: adinst. Private to "distant": -. Private to "distantes": e.

"distant" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "distantes" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • distantddistant · disatnt · disstant · distannt · distantt · distatn · distnat · disttant
  • distantesddistantes · disatntes · disstantes · distanets · distanntes · distantess · distantse · distanttes

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "distant" and "distantes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\dis.tɑ̃\ versus \dis.tɑ̃t\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "distant" or "distantes"?
"distant" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,852 in our French list, against #45,551 for "distantes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "distant" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "distantes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #92,498 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "distant" and "distantes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "distancer 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 #92,498 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