déposavsdéposaitConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#36,819
“déposa” frequency rank
#48,471
“déposait” frequency rank
85290
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature déposa déposait
Definition Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de déposer. Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de déposer.

Where the eye mixes déposa and déposait

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. déposa runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against déposait's 8 (CVCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
déposa
8 ch
déposait

Visual trap between déposa and déposait

A purely visual mix-up. déposa (\de.pɔ.za\) and déposait (\de.pɔ.zɛ\) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “déposa” sits inside “déposait”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 85290, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

déposa is recorded at frequency rank #36,819, classified as averb, pronounced \de.pɔ.za\. déposait is at rank #48,471, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.pɔ.zɛ\.

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 85290, this pair ranks #11,577 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of déposa vs déposait

Shared letters: adopsé. Private to "déposa": -. Private to "déposait": it.

"déposa" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "déposait" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "déposa" for "déposait" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\de.pɔ.za\ versus \de.pɔ.zɛ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "déposa" or "déposait"?
"déposa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,819 in our French list, against #48,471 for "déposait". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "déposa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "déposait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #11,577 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "déposa" and "déposait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "déposait vs déposants". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #11,577 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list