Which to use
“dépens” is a noun and “dépenser” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,312
- “dépens” frequency rank
- #6,609
- “dépenser” frequency rank
- 15921
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dépens | dépenser |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ce qu’on dépense. | Employer telle ou telle somme à l’achat de telle ou telle chose. |
Where the eye mixes dépens and dépenser
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. dépens runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against dépenser's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses dépens with dépenser
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dépens is \de.pɑ̃\ while dépenser is \de.pɑ̃.se\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “dépens” sits inside “dépenser”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15921, 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\. dépenser is at rank #6,609, 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 15921, this pair ranks #390,248 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of dépens vs dépenser
Shared letters: denpsé. Private to "dépens": -. Private to "dépenser": r.
"dépens" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "dépenser" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "dépens" and "dépenser" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "dépens" or "dépenser" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "dépens" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dépenser" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #390,248 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dépens" and "dépenser" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décents vs dépens". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #390,248 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.