tentéesvstestésWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#41,039
“tentées” frequency rank
#21,186
“testés” frequency rank
62225
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tentées testés
Definition Participe passé féminin pluriel de tenter. Participe passé masculin pluriel du verbetester.

Where the eye mixes tentées and testés

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. tentées runs 7 letters (CVCCVVC) against testés's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
tentées
6 ch
testés

Why the eye confuses tentées with testés

A purely visual mix-up. tentées (\tɑ̃.te\) and testés (\tɛs.te\) 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 62225, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tentées is recorded at frequency rank #41,039, classified as averb, pronounced \tɑ̃.te\. testés is at rank #21,186, tagged as averb, pronounced \tɛs.te\.

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 62225, this pair ranks #88,223 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tentées vs testés

Shared letters: esté. Private to "tentées": n. Private to "testés": -.

"tentées" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC  ·  "testés" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "tentées" for "testés" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\tɑ̃.te\ versus \tɛs.te\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "tentées" or "testés" show up more?
"testés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,186 in our French list, against #41,039 for "tentées". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "tentées" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "testés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #88,223 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tentées" and "testés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tentais vs tentées". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #88,223 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