Which to use
“defender” and “défendez” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #44,412
- “defender” frequency rank
- #29,738
- “défendez” frequency rank
- 74150
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | defender | défendez |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Défendre. | Deuxième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de défendre. |
Where the eye mixes defender and défendez
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. defender and défendez follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: defender vs défendez
A purely visual mix-up. defender (\de.fenˈdeɾ\) and défendez (\de.fɑ̃.de\) 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 74150, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
defender is recorded at frequency rank #44,412, classified as averb, pronounced \de.fenˈdeɾ\. défendez is at rank #29,738, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.fɑ̃.de\.
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 74150, this pair ranks #38,094 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of defender vs défendez
Shared letters: defn. Private to "defender": r. Private to "défendez": zé.
"defender" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "défendez" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- defender ← ddefender · deefnder · defedner · defendder · defenderr · defenedr · defennder · deffender
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "defender" and "défendez" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "defender" or "défendez" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "defender" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "défendez" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #38,094 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "defender" and "défendez" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "defender vs défendit". 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 #38,094 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.