Which to use
“rend” and “répand” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #856
- “rend” frequency rank
- #16,004
- “répand” frequency rank
- 16860
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rend | répand |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de rendre. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de répandre. |
Where the eye mixes rend and répand
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between rend and répand
A purely visual mix-up. rend (\ʁɑ̃\) and répand (\ʁe.pɑ̃\) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16860, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
rend is recorded at frequency rank #856, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁɑ̃\. répand is at rank #16,004, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁe.pɑ̃\.
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 16860, this pair ranks #385,924 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of rend vs répand
Shared letters: dnr. Private to "rend": e. Private to "répand": apé.
"rend" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "répand" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- rend ← ernd · redn · rendd · rennd · rned · rrend
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "rend" for "répand" ever safe?
Which is more common, "rend" or "répand"?
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 "rend" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "répand" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #385,924 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "rend" and "répand" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "répand vs romand". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #385,924 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.