Which to use
“défend” and “depend” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,750
- “défend” frequency rank
- #26,692
- “depend” frequency rank
- 30442
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | défend | depend |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de défendre. | (Suivi de on ou de upon, et plus anciennement de of) Dépendre (de). |
Where the eye mixes défend and depend
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: défend vs depend
A purely visual mix-up. défend (\de.fɑ̃\) and depend (\dɪˈpɛnd\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30442, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
défend is recorded at frequency rank #3,750, classified as averb, pronounced \de.fɑ̃\. depend is at rank #26,692, tagged as averb, pronounced \dɪˈpɛnd\.
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 30442, this pair ranks #310,306 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of défend vs depend
Shared letters: den. Private to "défend": fé. Private to "depend": p.
"défend" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "depend" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- depend ← ddepend · deepnd · depedn · dependd · depennd · depned · deppend · dpeend
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "défend" and "depend" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "défend" or "depend" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "défend" and "depend" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "défend" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "depend" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #310,306 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "défend" and "depend" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "depend vs Dupond". 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 #310,306 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.