tendresvstenduesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#16,247
“tendres” frequency rank
#20,004
“tendues” frequency rank
36251
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tendres tendues
Definition Pluriel de tendre. Féminin pluriel de tendu.

Where the eye mixes tendres and tendues

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. tendres (CVCCCVC) and tendues (CVCCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
tendres
7 ch
tendues

Visual trap between tendres and tendues

A purely visual mix-up. tendres (\tɑ̃dʁ\) and tendues (\tɑ̃.dy\) 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 a single letter - r in “tendres” becomes u in “tendues”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36251, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tendres is recorded at frequency rank #16,247, classified as anadj, pronounced \tɑ̃dʁ\. tendues is at rank #20,004, tagged as anadj, pronounced \tɑ̃.dy\.

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 36251, this pair ranks #270,908 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tendres vs tendues

Shared letters: denst. Private to "tendres": r. Private to "tendues": u.

"tendres" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC  ·  "tendues" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tendresetndres · tednres · tenddres · tenders · tendress · tendrres · tendrse · tenndres
  • tenduesetndues · tednues · tenddues · tendeus · tenduess · tenduse · tenndues · tenudes

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tendres" and "tendues" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\tɑ̃dʁ\ versus \tɑ̃.dy\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "tendres" or "tendues" show up more?
"tendres" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,247 in our French list, against #20,004 for "tendues". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "tendres" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tendues" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #270,908 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tendres" and "tendues" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tender vs tendues". 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 #270,908 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