Which to use
“défends” and “dépends” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,577
- “défends” frequency rank
- #27,416
- “dépends” frequency rank
- 40993
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | défends | dépends |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne de l’indicatif présent du verbe défendre. | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de dépendre. |
Where the eye mixes défends and dépends
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. défends and dépends follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between défends and dépends
A purely visual mix-up. défends (\de.fɑ̃\) and dépends (\de.pɑ̃\) 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 “défends” becomes p in “dépends”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40993, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
défends is recorded at frequency rank #13,577, classified as averb, pronounced \de.fɑ̃\. dépends is at rank #27,416, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.pɑ̃\.
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 40993, this pair ranks #236,380 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of défends vs dépends
Shared letters: densé. Private to "défends": f. Private to "dépends": p.
"défends" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC · "dépends" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "défends" for "dépends" ever safe?
Frequency check: "défends" vs "dépends" - 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 "défends" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dépends" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #236,380 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "défends" and "dépends" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dépends vs détendus". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #236,380 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.