étendvsétendueWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: étend is a verb, étendue is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

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 spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set étend and étendue apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
étend
7 ch
étendue

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

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

Frequency comparison

étend#5,002
étendue#5,207

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "étend" and "étendue" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "étend" is a verb and "étendue" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "étend" or "étendue"?
"étend" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,002 in our French list, against #5,207 for "étendue". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering étend vs étendue

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “étend”; for a noun, it's “étendue”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “étend” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list