Which to use
“été” is a noun and “étend” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #65
- “été” frequency rank
- #5,002
- “étend” frequency rank
- 5067
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | été | étend |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | La plus chaude des quatre saisons de l’année. Dans l’hémisphère nord, l’été astronomique s’étend du 7 mai au 7 août, le solstice d’été représentant le milieu de l’été. L’été météorologique, qui comprend les mois les plus chauds de l’année, comprend les mois de juin, juillet et août. L’été calendaire français, enfin, s’étend du 21 juin (solstice d’été) au 22 septembre (équinoxe d’automne). Dans l’hémisphère sud, ce découpage correspond à la saison d’hiver. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de étendre. |
Where the eye mixes été and étend
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses été with étend
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: été is \e.te\ while étend is \e.tɑ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5067, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
été is recorded at frequency rank #65, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.te\. étend is at rank #5,002, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.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 5067, this pair ranks #429,997 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of été vs étend
Shared letters: té. Private to "été": -. Private to "étend": den.
"été" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "étend" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "été" and "étend" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "été" or "étend"?
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 "été" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "étend" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #429,997 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "été" and "étend" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "EPO vs été". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #429,997 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.