dépendantevsdépendantsConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#16,607
“dépendante” frequency rank
#19,524
“dépendants” frequency rank
36131
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dépendante dépendants
Definition Féminin singulier de dépendant. Masculin pluriel de dépendant.

Where the eye mixes dépendante and dépendants

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. dépendante (CVCVCCVCCV) and dépendants (CVCVCCVCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

10 ch
dépendante
10 ch
dépendants

Look-alike desk: dépendante vs dépendants

A purely visual mix-up. dépendante (\de.pɑ̃.dɑ̃t\) and dépendants (\de.pɑ̃.dɑ̃\) 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 a single letter - e in “dépendante” becomes s in “dépendants”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36131, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dépendante is recorded at frequency rank #16,607, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.pɑ̃.dɑ̃t\. dépendants is at rank #19,524, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.pɑ̃.dɑ̃\.

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 36131, this pair ranks #271,799 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dépendante vs dépendants

Shared letters: adenpté. Private to "dépendante": -. Private to "dépendants": s.

"dépendante" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCV  ·  "dépendants" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dépendante" and "dépendants" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\de.pɑ̃.dɑ̃t\ versus \de.pɑ̃.dɑ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "dépendante" or "dépendants" show up more?
"dépendante" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,607 in our French list, against #19,524 for "dépendants". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "dépendante" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dépendants" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #271,799 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dépendante" and "dépendants" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dépendants vs dépensant". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #271,799 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