fendrevsfenêtreWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

“fendre” is a verb and “fenêtre” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,490
“fendre” frequency rank
#2,475
“fenêtre” frequency rank
33965
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fendre fenêtre
Definition Diviser, séparer, couper en long ou en large, ou de toute autre manière. Ouverture faite dans certaines parties d’un bâtiment, pour donner du jour et de l’air à l’intérieur.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
fendre
7 ch
fenêtre

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fendre is \fɑ̃dʁ\ while fenêtre is \fə.nɛtʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33965, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fendre is recorded at frequency rank #31,490, classified as averb, pronounced \fɑ̃dʁ\. fenêtre is at rank #2,475, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fə.nɛtʁ\.

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 33965, this pair ranks #287,061 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fendre vs fenêtre

Shared letters: efnr. Private to "fendre": d. Private to "fenêtre": .

"fendre" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "fenêtre" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fendreefndre · fednre · fenddre · fender · fendrre · fenndre · fenrde · ffendre

Frequency comparison

fendre#31,490
fenêtre#2,475

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fendre" and "fenêtre" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fendre" is a verb and "fenêtre" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fendre" or "fenêtre"?
"fenêtre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,475 in our French list, against #31,490 for "fendre". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering fendre vs fenêtre

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “fendre”; for a noun, it's “fenêtre”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “fendre” 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