éteinsvsétendTell them apart

Which to use

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

#29,615
“éteins” frequency rank
#5,002
“étend” frequency rank
34617
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature éteins étend
Definition Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de éteindre. Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de étendre.

Where the eye mixes éteins and étend

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. éteins runs 6 letters (VCVVCC) against étend's 5 (VCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
éteins
5 ch
étend

Visual trap between éteins and étend

A purely visual mix-up. éteins (\e.tɛ̃\) and étend (\e.tɑ̃\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34617, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

éteins is recorded at frequency rank #29,615, classified as averb, pronounced \e.tɛ̃\. 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 34617, this pair ranks #282,563 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of éteins vs étend

Shared letters: enté. Private to "éteins": is. Private to "étend": d.

"éteins" · 6 letters · shape VCVVCC  ·  "étend" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "éteins" and "étend" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\e.tɛ̃\ versus \e.tɑ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "éteins" vs "étend" - which ranks higher?
"étend" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,002 in our French list, against #29,615 for "éteins". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "éteins" and "étend" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "éteins" 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 #282,563 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "éteins" and "étend" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "éteins vs étuis". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #282,563 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