Which to use
“defend” and “depends” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,159
- “defend” frequency rank
- #2,828
- “depends” frequency rank
- 5987
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | defend | depends |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To ward off attacks against; to fight to protect; to guard. | third-person singular simple present indicative of depend |
Where the eye mixes defend and depends
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. defend runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against depends's 7 (CVCVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses defend with depends
A purely visual mix-up. defend (/dɪˈfɛnd/) and depends (/dɪˈpɛndz/) 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 5987, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
defend is recorded at frequency rank #3,159, classified as averb, pronounced /dɪˈfɛnd/. depends is at rank #2,828, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɪˈpɛndz/.
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 5987, this pair ranks #513,242 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of defend vs depends
Shared letters: den. Private to "defend": f. Private to "depends": ps.
"defend" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "depends" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "defend" and "depends" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "defend" vs "depends" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "defend" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "depends" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #513,242 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "defend" and "depends" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deen vs defend". 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 #513,242 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.