Which to use
“dépassent” and “dépensent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,476
- “dépassent” frequency rank
- #23,847
- “dépensent” frequency rank
- 33323
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dépassent | dépensent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de dépasser. | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de dépenser. |
Where the eye mixes dépassent and dépensent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. dépassent and dépensent follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: dépassent vs dépensent
A purely visual mix-up. dépassent (\de.pas\) and dépensent (\de.pɑ̃s\) 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 33323, 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\. dépensent is at rank #23,847, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.pɑ̃s\.
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 33323, this pair ranks #291,420 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dépassent vs dépensent
Shared letters: denpsté. Private to "dépassent": a. Private to "dépensent": -.
"dépassent" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC · "dépensent" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "dépassent" and "dépensent" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "dépassent" or "dépensent"?
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 "dépassent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dépensent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #291,420 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dépassent" and "dépensent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dépensant vs dépensent". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #291,420 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.