Which to use
“dépendait” and “détenait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,415
- “dépendait” frequency rank
- #25,295
- “détenait” frequency rank
- 42710
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dépendait | détenait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de dépendre. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de détenir. |
Where the eye mixes dépendait and détenait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. dépendait runs 9 letters (CVCVCCVVC) against détenait's 8 (CVCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses dépendait with détenait
A purely visual mix-up. dépendait (\de.pɑ̃.dɛ\) and détenait (\de.tə.nɛ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42710, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dépendait is recorded at frequency rank #17,415, classified as averb, pronounced \de.pɑ̃.dɛ\. détenait is at rank #25,295, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.tə.nɛ\.
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 42710, this pair ranks #223,553 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dépendait vs détenait
Shared letters: adeinté. Private to "dépendait": p. Private to "détenait": -.
"dépendait" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC · "détenait" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dépendait" for "détenait" ever safe?
Which is more common, "dépendait" or "détenait"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "dépendait" and "détenait" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "dépendait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "détenait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #223,553 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dépendait" and "détenait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "détenaient vs détenait". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #223,553 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.