dépassent vs dépasses, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“dépassent” and “dépasses” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#9,476
“dépassent” frequency rank: #46,131
“dépasses” frequency rank: 55607
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	dépassent	dépasses
Definition	Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de dépasser.	Deuxième personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de dépasser.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dépassent and dépasses apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch

dépassent

8 ch

dépasses

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. dépassent and dépasses are pronounced identically (\de.pas\) and both work as averb. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55607, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dépassent is recorded at frequency rank #9,476, classified as averb, pronounced \de.pas\. dépasses is at rank #46,131, 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 55607, this pair ranks #126,390 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dépassent vs dépasses

Shared letters: adepsé. Private to "dépassent": nt. Private to "dépasses": -.

"dépassent" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC · "dépasses" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Frequency comparison

dépassent#9,476

dépasses#46,131

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dépassent" and "dépasses" be used interchangeably?

No. They are pronounced the same (\de.pas\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.

Which is more common, "dépassent" or "dépasses"?

"dépassent" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,476 in our French list, against #46,131 for "dépasses". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dépassent vs dépasses

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dépassent” entry
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