dépenséevsdépensentWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#43,400
“dépensée” frequency rank
#23,847
“dépensent” frequency rank
67247
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dépensée dépensent
Definition Participe passé féminin singulier de dépenser. Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de dépenser.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dépensée and dépensent apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
dépensée
9 ch
dépensent

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. dépensée (\de.pɑ̃.se\) and dépensent (\de.pɑ̃s\) 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 67247, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dépensée is recorded at frequency rank #43,400, classified as averb, pronounced \de.pɑ̃.se\. dépensent is at rank #23,847, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.pɑ̃s\.

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 67247, this pair ranks #64,239 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of dépensée vs dépensent

Shared letters: denpsé. Private to "dépensée": -. Private to "dépensent": t.

"dépensée" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVV  ·  "dépensent" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC

Frequency comparison

dépensée#43,400
dépensent#23,847

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dépensée" and "dépensent" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\de.pɑ̃.se\ versus \de.pɑ̃s\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "dépensée" or "dépensent"?
"dépensent" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,847 in our French list, against #43,400 for "dépensée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dépensée vs dépensent

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dépensée” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list