Which to use
“étendre” is a verb and “étendus” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,515
- “étendre” frequency rank
- #23,432
- “étendus” frequency rank
- 28947
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | étendre | étendus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 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. | Masculin pluriel de étendu. |
Where the eye mixes étendre and étendus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. étendre (VCVCCCV) and étendus (VCVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses étendre with étendus
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: étendre is \e.tɑ̃dʁ\ 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 28947, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
étendre is recorded at frequency rank #5,515, classified as averb, pronounced \e.tɑ̃dʁ\. 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 28947, this pair ranks #319,664 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of étendre vs étendus
Shared letters: denté. Private to "étendre": r. Private to "étendus": su.
"étendre" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCCV · "étendus" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "étendre" and "étendus" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "étendre" vs "étendus" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "étendre" 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 #319,664 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "étendre" and "étendus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "entendis vs étendus". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #319,664 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.