Which to use
“tende” is a noun and “tondre” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #37,580
- “tende” frequency rank
- #30,401
- “tondre” frequency rank
- 67981
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tende | tondre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | → voir tende de tranche. | Couper à ras la laine ou le poil des bêtes. |
Where the eye mixes tende and tondre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. tende runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against tondre's 6 (CVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses tende with tondre
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tende is \tɑ̃d\ while tondre is \tɔ̃dʁ\. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67981, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tende is recorded at frequency rank #37,580, classified as anoun, pronounced \tɑ̃d\. tondre is at rank #30,401, tagged as averb, pronounced \tɔ̃dʁ\.
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 67981, this pair ranks #61,113 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of tende vs tondre
Shared letters: dent. Private to "tende": -. Private to "tondre": or.
"tende" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "tondre" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tende" for "tondre" ever safe?
Which is more common, "tende" or "tondre"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "tende" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tondre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #61,113 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tende" and "tondre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tende vs tender". 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 #61,113 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.