répandvsréponduWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#16,004
“répand” frequency rank
#2,017
“répondu” frequency rank
18021
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature répand répondu
Definition Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de répandre. Participe passé masculin singulier de répondre.

Where the eye mixes répand and répondu

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. répand runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against répondu's 7 (CVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
répand
7 ch
répondu

Look-alike desk: répand vs répondu

A purely visual mix-up. répand (\ʁe.pɑ̃\) and répondu (\ʁe.pɔ̃.dy\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18021, 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\. répondu is at rank #2,017, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁe.pɔ̃.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 18021, this pair ranks #380,362 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of répand vs répondu

Shared letters: dnpré. Private to "répand": a. Private to "répondu": ou.

"répand" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "répondu" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "répand" and "répondu" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʁe.pɑ̃\ versus \ʁe.pɔ̃.dy\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "répand" or "répondu"?
"répondu" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,017 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

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "répand" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "répondu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #380,362 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "répand" and "répondu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "répand vs romand". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #380,362 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