Which to use
“dépendance” and “descendance” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,654
- “dépendance” frequency rank
- #16,108
- “descendance” frequency rank
- 21762
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dépendance | descendance |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tout accessoire d’une chose principale, de tout ce qui tient ou se rattache à une chose sans la constituer essentiellement. | Progéniture, ensemble des individus issus d’une reproduction sexuée ou asexuée. |
Where the eye mixes dépendance and descendance
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. dépendance runs 10 letters (CVCVCCVCCV) against descendance's 11 (CVCCVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: dépendance vs descendance
A purely visual mix-up. dépendance (\de.pɑ̃.dɑ̃s\) and descendance (\de.sɑ̃.dɑ̃s\) 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 21762, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dépendance is recorded at frequency rank #5,654, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.pɑ̃.dɑ̃s\. descendance is at rank #16,108, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.sɑ̃.dɑ̃s\.
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 21762, this pair ranks #361,535 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of dépendance vs descendance
Shared letters: acden. Private to "dépendance": pé. Private to "descendance": s.
"dépendance" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCV · "descendance" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- descendance ← ddescendance · decsendance · desccendance · descednance · descenadnce · descendacne · descendancce · descendanec
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dépendance" for "descendance" ever safe?
Frequency check: "dépendance" vs "descendance" - which ranks higher?
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 "dépendance" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "descendance" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #361,535 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dépendance" and "descendance" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "descendance vs descendante". 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 #361,535 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.