résistancevsrésistantesWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: résistance is a noun, résistantes is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“résistance” is a noun and “résistantes” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,935
“résistance” frequency rank
#24,383
“résistantes” frequency rank
26318
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature résistance résistantes
Definition Qualité par laquelle un corps résiste à l’action d’un autre corps. Féminin pluriel de résistant.

Where the eye mixes résistance and résistantes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. résistance runs 10 letters (CVCVCCVCCV) against résistantes's 11 (CVCVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
résistance
11 ch
résistantes

Visual trap between résistance and résistantes

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: résistance is \ʁe.zis.tɑ̃s\ while résistantes is \ʁe.zis.tɑ̃t\. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26318, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

résistance is recorded at frequency rank #1,935, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁe.zis.tɑ̃s\. résistantes is at rank #24,383, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ʁe.zis.tɑ̃t\.

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 26318, this pair ranks #335,769 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of résistance vs résistantes

Shared letters: aeinrsté. Private to "résistance": c. Private to "résistantes": -.

"résistance" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCV  ·  "résistantes" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "résistance" and "résistantes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "résistance" is a noun and "résistantes" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "résistance" vs "résistantes" - which ranks higher?
"résistance" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,935 in our French list, against #24,383 for "résistantes". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "résistance" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "résistantes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #335,769 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "résistance" and "résistantes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "résistantes vs restantes". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #335,769 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