Which to use
“dépanner” and “dépasser” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,629
- “dépanner” frequency rank
- #4,229
- “dépasser” frequency rank
- 29858
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dépanner | dépasser |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Remettre en état de fonctionnement un appareil, un véhicule, etc. | Aller au-delà de quelque chose. |
Where the eye mixes dépanner and dépasser
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. dépanner and dépasser follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses dépanner with dépasser
A purely visual mix-up. dépanner (\de.pa.ne\) and dépasser (\de.pɑ.se\) 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 29858, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dépanner is recorded at frequency rank #25,629, classified as averb, pronounced \de.pa.ne\. dépasser is at rank #4,229, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.pɑ.se\.
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 29858, this pair ranks #314,016 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dépanner vs dépasser
Shared letters: adepré. Private to "dépanner": n. Private to "dépasser": s.
"dépanner" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "dépasser" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dépanner" and "dépasser" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "dépanner" or "dépasser"?
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 "dépanner" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dépasser" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #314,016 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dépanner" and "dépasser" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dépanner vs dépanneurs". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #314,016 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.