distribuevsdistribuentWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#13,570
“distribue” frequency rank
#28,919
“distribuent” frequency rank
42489
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature distribue distribuent
Definition Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de distribuer. Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de distribuer.

Same sound, different letters: distribue vs distribuent

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 9 letters. distribue runs 9 letters (CVCCCVCVV) against distribuent's 11 (CVCCCVCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
distribue
11 ch
distribuent

Ear matches; page differs - distribue and distribuent

This is the hard kind. distribue and distribuent are pronounced identically (\dis.tʁi.by\) and both work as averb. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “distribue” sits inside “distribuent”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42489, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

distribue is recorded at frequency rank #13,570, classified as averb, pronounced \dis.tʁi.by\. distribuent is at rank #28,919, tagged as averb, pronounced \dis.tʁi.by\.

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 42489, this pair ranks #225,221 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of distribue vs distribuent

Shared letters: bdeirstu. Private to "distribue": -. Private to "distribuent": n.

"distribue" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVV  ·  "distribuent" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • distribue ← ddistribue · disrtibue · disstribue · distirbue · distrbiue · distribbue · distribeu · distriube
  • distribuent ← ddistribuent · disrtibuent · disstribuent · distirbuent · distrbiuent · distribbuent · distribeunt · distribuennt

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "distribue" and "distribuent" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\dis.tʁi.by\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
In ordinary French text, does "distribue" or "distribuent" show up more?
"distribue" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,570 in our French list, against #28,919 for "distribuent". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

"distribue" and "distribuent" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.

  • Full dictionary entry for "distribue" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "distribuent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #225,221 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "distribue" and "distribuent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "distribuait vs distribuent". 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 #225,221 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