Which to use
“entendre” is a verb and “étendue” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #872
- “entendre” frequency rank
- #5,207
- “étendue” frequency rank
- 6079
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | entendre | étendue |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Percevoir un son. | Dimension d’une chose en longueur, largeur et profondeur. |
Where the eye mixes entendre and étendue
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. entendre runs 8 letters (VCCVCCCV) against étendue's 7 (VCVCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses entendre with étendue
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: entendre is \ɑ̃.tɑ̃dʁ\ while étendue is \e.tɑ̃.dy\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6079, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
entendre is recorded at frequency rank #872, classified as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.tɑ̃dʁ\. étendue is at rank #5,207, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.tɑ̃.dy\.
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 6079, this pair ranks #427,241 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of entendre vs étendue
Shared letters: dent. Private to "entendre": r. Private to "étendue": ué.
"entendre" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCCV · "étendue" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- entendre ← enetndre · enntendre · entednre · entenddre · entender · entendrre · entenndre · entenrde
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "entendre" for "étendue" ever safe?
Which is more common, "entendre" or "étendue"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "entendre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "étendue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #427,241 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "entendre" and "étendue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "entendis vs entendre". 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 #427,241 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.