Which to use
“défendent” is a verb and “dépendant” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,647
- “défendent” frequency rank
- #7,555
- “dépendant” frequency rank
- 17202
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | défendent | dépendant |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de défendre. | Qui dépend de, qui est subordonné à. |
Where the eye mixes défendent and dépendant
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: défendent vs dépendant
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: défendent is \de.fɑ̃d\ while dépendant is \de.pɑ̃.dɑ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17202, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
défendent is recorded at frequency rank #9,647, classified as averb, pronounced \de.fɑ̃d\. dépendant is at rank #7,555, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.pɑ̃.dɑ̃\.
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 17202, this pair ranks #384,302 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of défendent vs dépendant
Shared letters: denté. Private to "défendent": f. Private to "dépendant": ap.
"défendent" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC · "dépendant" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "défendent" for "dépendant" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "défendent" or "dépendant" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "défendent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dépendant" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #384,302 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "défendent" and "dépendant" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décèdent vs défendent". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #384,302 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.