tonduvstordueConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#43,187
“tondu” frequency rank
#30,402
“tordue” frequency rank
73589
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tondu tordue
Definition Que l’on a tondu. Féminin singulier de tordu.

Where the eye mixes tondu and tordue

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. tondu runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against tordue's 6 (CVCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
tondu
6 ch
tordue

Why the eye confuses tondu with tordue

A purely visual mix-up. tondu (\tɔ̃.dy\) and tordue (\tɔʁ.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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73589, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tondu is recorded at frequency rank #43,187, classified as anadj, pronounced \tɔ̃.dy\. tordue is at rank #30,402, tagged as anadj, pronounced \tɔʁ.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 73589, this pair ranks #39,933 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tondu vs tordue

Shared letters: dotu. Private to "tondu": n. Private to "tordue": er.

"tondu" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "tordue" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tonduotndu · tnodu · todnu · tonddu · tonndu · tonud · ttondu
  • tordueotrdue · todrue · torddue · tordeu · torrdue · torude · trodue · ttordue

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tondu" and "tordue" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\tɔ̃.dy\ versus \tɔʁ.dy\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "tondu" vs "tordue" - which ranks higher?
"tordue" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,402 in our French list, against #43,187 for "tondu". 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 "tondu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tordue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #39,933 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tondu" and "tordue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "todo vs tondu". 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 #39,933 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