Which to use
“étend” is a verb and “étendue” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,002
- “étend” frequency rank
- #5,207
- “étendue” frequency rank
- 10209
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | étend | étendue |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de étendre. | Dimension d’une chose en longueur, largeur et profondeur. |
Where the eye mixes étend and étendue
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. étend runs 5 letters (VCVCC) 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 étend with étendue
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: étend is \e.tɑ̃\ while étendue is \e.tɑ̃.dy\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “étend” sits inside “étendue”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10209, 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\. 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 10209, this pair ranks #413,819 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of étend vs étendue
Shared letters: denté. Private to "étend": -. Private to "étendue": u.
"étend" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC · "étendue" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "étend" for "étendue" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "étend" or "étendue" 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 "étend" 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 #413,819 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "étend" and "étendue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "étend vs Etna". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #413,819 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.