Which to use
“depend” is a verb and “détendu” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #26,692
- “depend” frequency rank
- #19,527
- “détendu” frequency rank
- 46219
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | depend | détendu |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | (Suivi de on ou de upon, et plus anciennement de of) Dépendre (de). | Lâche, non tendu. |
Where the eye mixes depend and détendu
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. depend runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against détendu's 7 (CVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between depend and détendu
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: depend is \dɪˈpɛnd\ while détendu is \de.tɑ̃.dy\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 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 46219, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
depend is recorded at frequency rank #26,692, classified as averb, pronounced \dɪˈpɛnd\. détendu is at rank #19,527, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.tɑ̃.dy\.
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 46219, this pair ranks #196,662 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of depend vs détendu
Shared letters: den. Private to "depend": p. Private to "détendu": tué.
"depend" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "détendu" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- depend ← ddepend · deepnd · depedn · dependd · depennd · depned · deppend · dpeend
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "depend" and "détendu" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "depend" or "détendu" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "depend" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "détendu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #196,662 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "depend" and "détendu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "détendu vs détendus". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #196,662 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.