résistantsvsrestantsWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#11,659
“résistants” frequency rank
#13,678
“restants” frequency rank
25337
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature résistants restants
Definition Masculin pluriel de résistant. Masculin pluriel de restant.

Where the eye mixes résistants and restants

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. résistants runs 10 letters (CVCVCCVCCC) against restants's 8 (CVCCVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
résistants
8 ch
restants

Visual trap between résistants and restants

A purely visual mix-up. résistants (\ʁe.zis.tɑ̃\) and restants (\ʁɛs.tɑ̃\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25337, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

résistants is recorded at frequency rank #11,659, classified as anadj, pronounced \ʁe.zis.tɑ̃\. restants is at rank #13,678, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ʁɛs.tɑ̃\.

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 25337, this pair ranks #341,433 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of résistants vs restants

Shared letters: anrst. Private to "résistants": ié. Private to "restants": e.

"résistants" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCC  ·  "restants" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • restants ← erstants · resatnts · resstants · restannts · restanst · restantss · restantts · restatns

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "résistants" and "restants" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\ʁe.zis.tɑ̃\ versus \ʁɛs.tɑ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "résistants" vs "restants" - which ranks higher?
"résistants" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,659 in our French list, against #13,678 for "restants". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "résistants" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "restants" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #341,433 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "résistants" and "restants" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "résidants vs restants". 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 #341,433 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