obtiennevsobtiensWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“obtienne” and “obtiens” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#25,757
“obtienne” frequency rank
#19,924
“obtiens” frequency rank
45681
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature obtienne obtiens
Definition Première personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif de obtenir. Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de obtenir.

Where the eye mixes obtienne and obtiens

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. obtienne runs 8 letters (VCCVVCCV) against obtiens's 7 (VCCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
obtienne
7 ch
obtiens

Visual trap between obtienne and obtiens

A purely visual mix-up. obtienne (\ɔp.tjɛn\) and obtiens (\ɔp.tjɛ̃\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45681, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

obtienne is recorded at frequency rank #25,757, classified as averb, pronounced \ɔp.tjɛn\. obtiens is at rank #19,924, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɔp.tjɛ̃\.

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 45681, this pair ranks #200,863 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of obtienne vs obtiens

Shared letters: beinot. Private to "obtienne": -. Private to "obtiens": s.

"obtienne" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCCV  ·  "obtiens" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • obtienne ← botienne · obbtienne · obitenne · obteinne · obtiene · obtienen · obtinene · obttienne
  • obtiens ← botiens · obbtiens · obitens · obteins · obtienns · obtienss · obtiesn · obtines

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "obtienne" for "obtiens" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\ɔp.tjɛn\ versus \ɔp.tjɛ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "obtienne" vs "obtiens" - which ranks higher?
"obtiens" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,924 in our French list, against #25,757 for "obtienne". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "obtienne" and "obtiens" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "obtienne" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "obtiens" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #200,863 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "obtienne" and "obtiens" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "obtiens vs orties". 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 #200,863 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list