Which to use
“dépensent” and “dépenser” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,847
- “dépensent” frequency rank
- #6,609
- “dépenser” frequency rank
- 30456
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dépensent | dépenser |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de dépenser. | Employer telle ou telle somme à l’achat de telle ou telle chose. |
Where the eye mixes dépensent and dépenser
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. dépensent runs 9 letters (CVCVCCVCC) against dépenser's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: dépensent vs dépenser
A purely visual mix-up. dépensent (\de.pɑ̃s\) and dépenser (\de.pɑ̃.se\) 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 30456, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dépensent is recorded at frequency rank #23,847, classified as averb, pronounced \de.pɑ̃s\. 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 30456, this pair ranks #310,199 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dépensent vs dépenser
Shared letters: denpsé. Private to "dépensent": t. Private to "dépenser": r.
"dépensent" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC · "dépenser" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dépensent" for "dépenser" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "dépensent" or "dépenser" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "dépensent" and "dépenser" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "dépensent" 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 #310,199 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dépensent" and "dépenser" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dépensant vs dépensent". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #310,199 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.