distantevsdistantsTell them apart

Which to use

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

#20,983
“distante” frequency rank
#32,779
“distants” frequency rank
53762
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature distante distants
Definition Féminin singulier de distant. Masculin pluriel de distant.

Where the eye mixes distante and distants

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

8 ch
distante
8 ch
distants

Visual trap between distante and distants

A purely visual mix-up. distante (\dis.tɑ̃t\) and distants (\dis.tɑ̃\) 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 a single letter - e in “distante” becomes s in “distants”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53762, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

distante is recorded at frequency rank #20,983, classified as anadj, pronounced \dis.tɑ̃t\. distants is at rank #32,779, tagged as anadj, pronounced \dis.tɑ̃\.

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 53762, this pair ranks #138,526 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of distante vs distants

Shared letters: adinst. Private to "distante": e. Private to "distants": -.

"distante" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV  ·  "distants" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • distanteddistante · disatnte · disstante · distanet · distannte · distantte · distatne · distnate
  • distantsddistants · disatnts · disstants · distannts · distanst · distantss · distantts · distatns

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "distante" and "distants" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\dis.tɑ̃t\ versus \dis.tɑ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "distante" vs "distants" - which ranks higher?
"distante" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,983 in our French list, against #32,779 for "distants". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "distante" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "distants" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #138,526 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "distante" and "distants" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "distantes vs distants". 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 #138,526 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