Which to use
“étendant” and “étendent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,050
- “étendant” frequency rank
- #17,601
- “étendent” frequency rank
- 34651
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | étendant | étendent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Participe présent de étendre. | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de étendre. |
Where the eye mixes étendant and étendent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. étendant and étendent follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses étendant with étendent
A purely visual mix-up. étendant (\e.tɑ̃.dɑ̃\) and étendent (\e.tɑ̃d\) 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 a single letter - a in “étendant” becomes e in “étendent”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34651, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
étendant is recorded at frequency rank #17,050, classified as averb, pronounced \e.tɑ̃.dɑ̃\. étendent is at rank #17,601, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.tɑ̃d\.
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 34651, this pair ranks #282,342 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of étendant vs étendent
Shared letters: denté. Private to "étendant": a. Private to "étendent": -.
"étendant" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVCC · "étendent" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "étendant" for "étendent" ever safe?
Frequency check: "étendant" vs "étendent" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "étendant" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "étendent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #282,342 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "étendant" and "étendent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "étendent vs étendit". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #282,342 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.