remordsvsrépondsWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: remords is a noun, réponds is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“remords” is a noun and “réponds” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#13,676
“remords” frequency rank
#3,797
“réponds” frequency rank
17473
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature remords réponds
Definition Reproche, tourment, regret sincère provoqué par la conscience d’avoir mal agi. Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de répondre.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set remords and réponds apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
remords
7 ch
réponds

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: remords is \ʁə.mɔʁ\ while réponds is \ʁe.pɔ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17473, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

remords is recorded at frequency rank #13,676, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁə.mɔʁ\. réponds is at rank #3,797, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁe.pɔ̃\.

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 17473, this pair ranks #382,991 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of remords vs réponds

Shared letters: dors. Private to "remords": em. Private to "réponds": npé.

"remords" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC  ·  "réponds" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • remordsermords · remmords · remodrs · remordds · remordss · remorrds · remorsd · remrods

Frequency comparison

remords#13,676
réponds#3,797

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "remords" and "réponds" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "remords" is a noun and "réponds" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "remords" or "réponds"?
"réponds" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,797 in our French list, against #13,676 for "remords". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering remords vs réponds

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “remords”; for a verb, it's “réponds”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “remords” 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