Which to use
“dépensée” and “dépensés” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #43,400
- “dépensée” frequency rank
- #29,333
- “dépensés” frequency rank
- 72733
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dépensée | dépensés |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Participe passé féminin singulier de dépenser. | Participe passé masculin pluriel de dépenser. |
Same sound, different letters: dépensée vs dépensés
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 7 letters. dépensée (CVCVCCVV) and dépensés (CVCVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Same sound, different spelling - dépensée / dépensés
This is the hard kind. dépensée and dépensés are pronounced identically (\de.pɑ̃.se\) and both work as averb. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by a single letter - e in “dépensée” becomes s in “dépensés”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72733, 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\. dépensés is at rank #29,333, 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 72733, this pair ranks #42,975 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of dépensée vs dépensés
Shared letters: denpsé. Private to "dépensée": -. Private to "dépensés": -.
"dépensée" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVV · "dépensés" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dépensée" for "dépensés" ever safe?
Frequency check: "dépensée" vs "dépensés" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
You've separated the homophone pair "dépensée" / "dépensés". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "dépensée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dépensés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #42,975 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dépensée" and "dépensés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dépensée vs dispensée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #42,975 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.