distinctvsdistinctesConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#16,111
“distinct” frequency rank
#10,488
“distinctes” frequency rank
26599
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature distinct distinctes
Definition Qui est nettement séparé d’une autre, en parlant de certaines choses. Féminin pluriel de distinct.

Where the eye mixes distinct and distinctes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. distinct runs 8 letters (CVCCVCCC) against distinctes's 10 (CVCCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
distinct
10 ch
distinctes

Look-alike desk: distinct vs distinctes

A purely visual mix-up. distinct (\dis.tɛ̃\) and distinctes (\dis.tɛ̃kt\) 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) - “distinct” sits inside “distinctes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26599, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

distinct is recorded at frequency rank #16,111, classified as anadj, pronounced \dis.tɛ̃\. distinctes is at rank #10,488, tagged as anadj, pronounced \dis.tɛ̃kt\.

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 26599, this pair ranks #333,999 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of distinct vs distinctes

Shared letters: cdinst. Private to "distinct": -. Private to "distinctes": e.

"distinct" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCC  ·  "distinctes" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • distinct ← ddistinct · disitnct · disstinct · disticnt · distincct · distinctt · distinnct · distintc
  • distinctes ← ddistinctes · disitnctes · disstinctes · disticntes · distincctes · distincets · distinctess · distinctse

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "distinct" and "distinctes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\dis.tɛ̃\ versus \dis.tɛ̃kt\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "distinct" or "distinctes" show up more?
"distinctes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,488 in our French list, against #16,111 for "distinct". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "distinct" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "distinctes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #333,999 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "distinct" and "distinctes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "distantes vs distinctes". 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 #333,999 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