Which to use
“entendit” and “étendait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,644
- “entendit” frequency rank
- #22,143
- “étendait” frequency rank
- 47787
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | entendit | étendait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de entendre. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de étendre. |
Where the eye mixes entendit and étendait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. entendit (VCCVCCVC) and étendait (VCVCCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: entendit vs étendait
A purely visual mix-up. entendit (\ɑ̃.tɑ̃.di\) and étendait (\e.tɑ̃.dɛ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 6 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47787, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
entendit is recorded at frequency rank #25,644, classified as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.tɑ̃.di\. étendait is at rank #22,143, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.tɑ̃.dɛ\.
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 47787, this pair ranks #184,149 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of entendit vs étendait
Shared letters: deint. Private to "entendit": -. Private to "étendait": aé.
"entendit" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "étendait" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- entendit ← enetndit · enntendit · entednit · entenddit · entenditt · entendti · entenidt · entenndit
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "entendit" and "étendait" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "entendit" or "étendait" show up more?
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 "entendit" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "étendait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #184,149 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "entendit" and "étendait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "entendis vs entendit". 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 #184,149 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.