Which to use
“défendait” and “dépendait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,265
- “défendait” frequency rank
- #17,415
- “dépendait” frequency rank
- 36680
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | défendait | dépendait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de défendre. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de dépendre. |
Where the eye mixes défendait and dépendait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. défendait and dépendait follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses défendait with dépendait
A purely visual mix-up. défendait (\de.fɑ̃.dɛ\) and dépendait (\de.pɑ̃.dɛ\) 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 a single letter - f in “défendait” becomes p in “dépendait”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36680, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
défendait is recorded at frequency rank #19,265, classified as averb, pronounced \de.fɑ̃.dɛ\. dépendait is at rank #17,415, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.pɑ̃.dɛ\.
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 36680, this pair ranks #267,894 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of défendait vs dépendait
Shared letters: adeinté. Private to "défendait": f. Private to "dépendait": p.
"défendait" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC · "dépendait" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "défendait" and "dépendait" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "défendait" vs "dépendait" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "défendait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dépendait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #267,894 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "défendait" and "dépendait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "défendait vs défendrai". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #267,894 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.