dépendantvsdépendantesConfusable pair

Which to use

“dépendant” and “dépendantes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#7,555
“dépendant” frequency rank
#23,188
“dépendantes” frequency rank
30743
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dépendant dépendantes
Definition Qui dépend de, qui est subordonné à. Féminin pluriel de dépendant.

Where the eye mixes dépendant and dépendantes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. dépendant runs 9 letters (CVCVCCVCC) against dépendantes's 11 (CVCVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
dépendant
11 ch
dépendantes

Why the eye confuses dépendant with dépendantes

A purely visual mix-up. dépendant (\de.pɑ̃.dɑ̃\) and dépendantes (\de.pɑ̃.dɑ̃t\) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “dépendant” sits inside “dépendantes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30743, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dépendant is recorded at frequency rank #7,555, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.pɑ̃.dɑ̃\. dépendantes is at rank #23,188, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.pɑ̃.dɑ̃t\.

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 30743, this pair ranks #308,271 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dépendant vs dépendantes

Shared letters: adenpté. Private to "dépendant": -. Private to "dépendantes": s.

"dépendant" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC  ·  "dépendantes" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "dépendant" and "dépendantes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\de.pɑ̃.dɑ̃\ versus \de.pɑ̃.dɑ̃t\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "dépendant" or "dépendantes"?
"dépendant" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,555 in our French list, against #23,188 for "dépendantes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "dépendant" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dépendantes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #308,271 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dépendant" and "dépendantes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dépendant vs dépensant". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #308,271 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list