Which to use
“dépends” and “détend” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #27,416
- “dépends” frequency rank
- #21,607
- “détend” frequency rank
- 49023
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dépends | détend |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de dépendre. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de détendre. |
Where the eye mixes dépends and détend
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. dépends runs 7 letters (CVCVCCC) against détend's 6 (CVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses dépends with détend
A purely visual mix-up. dépends (\de.pɑ̃\) and détend (\de.tɑ̃\) 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 49023, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dépends is recorded at frequency rank #27,416, classified as averb, pronounced \de.pɑ̃\. détend is at rank #21,607, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.tɑ̃\.
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 49023, this pair ranks #174,110 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dépends vs détend
Shared letters: dené. Private to "dépends": ps. Private to "détend": t.
"dépends" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC · "détend" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "dépends" and "détend" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "dépends" or "détend" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "dépends" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "détend" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #174,110 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dépends" and "détend" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dépends vs détendus". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #174,110 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.