Which to use
“étendit” is a verb and “étendus” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,703
- “étendit” frequency rank
- #23,432
- “étendus” frequency rank
- 66135
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | étendit | étendus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de étendre. | Masculin pluriel de étendu. |
Where the eye mixes étendit and étendus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. étendit and étendus follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: étendit vs étendus
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: étendit is \e.tɑ̃.di\ while étendus is \e.tɑ̃.dy\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66135, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
étendit is recorded at frequency rank #42,703, classified as averb, pronounced \e.tɑ̃.di\. étendus is at rank #23,432, tagged as anadj, 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 66135, this pair ranks #69,138 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of étendit vs étendus
Shared letters: denté. Private to "étendit": i. Private to "étendus": su.
"étendit" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC · "étendus" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "étendit" and "étendus" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "étendit" or "étendus"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "étendit" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "étendus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #69,138 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "étendit" and "étendus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "entendis vs étendit". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #69,138 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.