Which to use
“répand” is a verb and “répandue” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #16,004
- “répand” frequency rank
- #9,911
- “répandue” frequency rank
- 25915
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | répand | répandue |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de répandre. | Féminin singulier de répandu. |
Where the eye mixes répand and répandue
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. répand runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against répandue's 8 (CVCVCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses répand with répandue
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: répand is \ʁe.pɑ̃\ while répandue is \ʁe.pɑ̃.dy\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “répand” sits inside “répandue”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25915, 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\. répandue is at rank #9,911, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ʁe.pɑ̃.dy\.
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 25915, this pair ranks #338,153 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of répand vs répandue
Shared letters: adnpré. Private to "répand": -. Private to "répandue": eu.
"répand" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "répandue" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "répand" and "répandue" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "répand" or "répandue"?
Useful next steps
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 "répandue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #338,153 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "répand" and "répandue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "répand vs romand". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #338,153 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.