Which to use
“dépasse” is a verb and “dépassées” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,401
- “dépasse” frequency rank
- #30,580
- “dépassées” frequency rank
- 33981
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dépasse | dépassées |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de dépasser. | Féminin pluriel de dépassé. |
Where the eye mixes dépasse and dépassées
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. dépasse runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against dépassées's 9 (CVCVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between dépasse and dépassées
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dépasse is \de.pas\ while dépassées is \de.pa.se\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33981, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dépasse is recorded at frequency rank #3,401, classified as averb, pronounced \de.pas\. dépassées is at rank #30,580, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.pa.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 33981, this pair ranks #286,956 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dépasse vs dépassées
Shared letters: adepsé. Private to "dépasse": -. Private to "dépassées": -.
"dépasse" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "dépassées" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dépasse" for "dépassées" ever safe?
Frequency check: "dépasse" vs "dépassées" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "dépasse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dépassées" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #286,956 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dépasse" and "dépassées" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "délaissées vs dépassées". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #286,956 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.