dépassementvsdépassentWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: dépassement is a noun, dépassent is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“dépassement” is a noun and “dépassent” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#12,557
“dépassement” frequency rank
#9,476
“dépassent” frequency rank
22033
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dépassement dépassent
Definition Action de dépasser et spécialement d’outrepasser. Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de dépasser.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dépassement and dépassent apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

11 ch
dépassement
9 ch
dépassent

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dépassement is \de.pas.mɑ̃\ while dépassent is \de.pas\. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22033, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dépassement is recorded at frequency rank #12,557, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.pas.mɑ̃\. dépassent is at rank #9,476, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.pas\.

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 22033, this pair ranks #360,127 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of dépassement vs dépassent

Shared letters: adenpsté. Private to "dépassement": m. Private to "dépassent": -.

"dépassement" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVCC  ·  "dépassent" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC

Frequency comparison

dépassement#12,557
dépassent#9,476

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dépassement" and "dépassent" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dépassement" is a noun and "dépassent" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "dépassement" or "dépassent"?
"dépassent" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,476 in our French list, against #12,557 for "dépassement". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dépassement vs dépassent

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “dépassement”; for a verb, it's “dépassent”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dépassement” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list