Which to use
“fendre” is a verb and “fente” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,490
- “fendre” frequency rank
- #21,624
- “fente” frequency rank
- 53114
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fendre | fente |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Diviser, séparer, couper en long ou en large, ou de toute autre manière. | Division en long pratiquée à un corps, à une masse quelconque. |
Where the eye mixes fendre and fente
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fendre runs 6 letters (CVCCCV) against fente's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: fendre vs fente
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fendre is \fɑ̃dʁ\ while fente is \fɑ̃t\. 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 53114, 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\. fente is at rank #21,624, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fɑ̃t\.
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 53114, this pair ranks #142,950 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fendre vs fente
Shared letters: efn. Private to "fendre": dr. Private to "fente": t.
"fendre" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "fente" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fendre" for "fente" ever safe?
Frequency check: "fendre" vs "fente" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "fendre" and "fente" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "fendre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fente" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #142,950 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fendre" and "fente" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fee vs fente". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #142,950 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.