Which to use
“dépens” is a noun and “dépensée” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,312
- “dépens” frequency rank
- #43,400
- “dépensée” frequency rank
- 52712
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dépens | dépensée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ce qu’on dépense. | Participe passé féminin singulier de dépenser. |
Where the eye mixes dépens and dépensée
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. dépens runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against dépensée's 8 (CVCVCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: dépens vs dépensée
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dépens is \de.pɑ̃\ while dépensée is \de.pɑ̃.se\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “dépens” sits inside “dépensée”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52712, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dépens is recorded at frequency rank #9,312, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.pɑ̃\. dépensée is at rank #43,400, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.pɑ̃.se\.
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 52712, this pair ranks #145,816 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dépens vs dépensée
Shared letters: denpsé. Private to "dépens": -. Private to "dépensée": -.
"dépens" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "dépensée" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "dépens" and "dépensée" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "dépens" or "dépensée" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "dépens" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dépensée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #145,816 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dépens" and "dépensée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dépensée vs dispensée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #145,816 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.