Which to use
“dépasser” and “dépister” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,229
- “dépasser” frequency rank
- #35,481
- “dépister” frequency rank
- 39710
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dépasser | dépister |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Aller au-delà de quelque chose. | Découvrir un animal qu’on chasse en suivant ses traces. |
Where the eye mixes dépasser and dépister
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. dépasser and dépister 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 dépasser with dépister
A purely visual mix-up. dépasser (\de.pɑ.se\) and dépister (\de.pis.te\) 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 39710, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dépasser is recorded at frequency rank #4,229, classified as averb, pronounced \de.pɑ.se\. dépister is at rank #35,481, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.pis.te\.
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 39710, this pair ranks #245,962 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dépasser vs dépister
Shared letters: deprsé. Private to "dépasser": a. Private to "dépister": it.
"dépasser" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "dépister" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dépasser" for "dépister" ever safe?
Which is more common, "dépasser" or "dépister"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "dépasser" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dépister" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #245,962 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dépasser" and "dépister" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dépister vs désister". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #245,962 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.