Which to use
“dépends” is a verb and “détendu” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #27,416
- “dépends” frequency rank
- #19,527
- “détendu” frequency rank
- 46943
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dépends | détendu |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de dépendre. | Lâche, non tendu. |
Where the eye mixes dépends and détendu
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. dépends (CVCVCCC) and détendu (CVCVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses dépends with détendu
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dépends is \de.pɑ̃\ while détendu is \de.tɑ̃.dy\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46943, 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\. détendu is at rank #19,527, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.tɑ̃.dy\.
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 46943, this pair ranks #190,830 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dépends vs détendu
Shared letters: dené. Private to "dépends": ps. Private to "détendu": tu.
"dépends" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC · "détendu" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dépends" for "détendu" ever safe?
Which is more common, "dépends" or "détendu"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "dépends" and "détendu" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "dépends" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "détendu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #190,830 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dépends" and "détendu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dépends vs détendus". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #190,830 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.