répandvsrépandreWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#16,004
“répand” frequency rank
#12,472
“répandre” frequency rank
28476
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature répand répandre
Definition Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de répandre. Épancher ; verser ; laisser tomber un liquide.

Where the eye mixes répand and répandre

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

6 ch
répand
8 ch
répandre

Look-alike desk: répand vs répandre

A purely visual mix-up. répand (\ʁe.pɑ̃\) 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 extra letter(s) - “répand” sits inside “répandre”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28476, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

répand is recorded at frequency rank #16,004, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁe.pɑ̃\. 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 28476, this pair ranks #322,532 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of répand vs répandre

Shared letters: adnpré. Private to "répand": -. Private to "répandre": e.

"répand" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "répandre" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "répand" for "répandre" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\ʁe.pɑ̃\ versus \ʁe.pɑ̃dʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "répand" vs "répandre" - which ranks higher?
"répandre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,472 in our French list, against #16,004 for "répand". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "répand" 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 #322,532 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "répand" and "répandre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "répand vs romand". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #322,532 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