Which to use
“étend” and “étendre” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,002
- “étend” frequency rank
- #5,515
- “étendre” frequency rank
- 10517
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | étend | étendre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de étendre. | Faire qu’une chose acquière plus de surface ou plus de volume, soit en la rendant plus mince, soit en la tirant ou en la dilatant. |
Where the eye mixes étend and étendre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses étend with étendre
A purely visual mix-up. étend (\e.tɑ̃\) and étendre (\e.tɑ̃dʁ\) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “étend” sits inside “étendre”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10517, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
étend is recorded at frequency rank #5,002, classified as averb, pronounced \e.tɑ̃\. étendre is at rank #5,515, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.tɑ̃dʁ\.
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 10517, this pair ranks #412,687 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of étend vs étendre
Shared letters: denté. Private to "étend": -. Private to "étendre": r.
"étend" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC · "étendre" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "étend" and "étendre" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "étend" or "étendre"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "étend" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "étendre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #412,687 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "étend" and "étendre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "éteindra vs étendre". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #412,687 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.