Which to use
“ténue” and “trente” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,245
- “ténue” frequency rank
- #2,155
- “trente” frequency rank
- 50400
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ténue | trente |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de ténu. | Vingt-neuf plus un, soit trois fois dix, adjectif numéral cardinal correspondant au nombre 30. |
Where the eye mixes ténue and trente
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. ténue runs 5 letters (CVCVV) against trente's 6 (CCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: ténue vs trente
A purely visual mix-up. ténue (\te.ny\) and trente (\tʁɑ̃t\) 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 50400, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ténue is recorded at frequency rank #48,245, classified as anadj, pronounced \te.ny\. trente is at rank #2,155, tagged as anadj, pronounced \tʁɑ̃t\.
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 50400, this pair ranks #162,963 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ténue vs trente
Shared letters: ent. Private to "ténue": ué. Private to "trente": r.
"ténue" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "trente" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- trente ← rtente · ternte · trenet · trennte · trentte · tretne · trnete · trrente
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ténue" and "trente" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "ténue" or "trente"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ténue" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "trente" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #162,963 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ténue" and "trente" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tender vs ténue". 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 #162,963 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.