Which to use
“rendre” and “répandre” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #514
- “rendre” frequency rank
- #12,472
- “répandre” frequency rank
- 12986
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rendre | répandre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Remettre une chose entre les mains de celui à qui elle appartient, de quelque manière qu’on l’ait eue. | Épancher ; verser ; laisser tomber un liquide. |
Where the eye mixes rendre and répandre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between rendre and répandre
A purely visual mix-up. rendre (\ʁɑ̃dʁ\) and répandre (\ʁe.pɑ̃dʁ\) 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 12986, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
rendre is recorded at frequency rank #514, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁɑ̃dʁ\. répandre is at rank #12,472, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁe.pɑ̃dʁ\.
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 12986, this pair ranks #402,896 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of rendre vs répandre
Shared letters: denr. Private to "rendre": -. Private to "répandre": apé.
"rendre" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "répandre" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- rendre ← erndre · rednre · renddre · render · rendrre · renndre · renrde · rnedre
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "rendre" and "répandre" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "rendre" or "répandre"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "rendre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "répandre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #402,896 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "rendre" and "répandre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "répandre vs repeindre". 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 #402,896 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.