répanduesvsrépandusTell them apart

Which to use

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

#24,760
“répandues” frequency rank
#24,382
“répandus” frequency rank
49142
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature répandues répandus
Definition Féminin pluriel de répandu. Masculin pluriel de répandu.

Same sound, different letters: répandues vs répandus

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 8 letters. répandues runs 9 letters (CVCVCCVVC) against répandus's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
répandues
8 ch
répandus

Same sound, different spelling - répandues / répandus

This is the hard kind. répandues and répandus are pronounced identically (\ʁe.pɑ̃.dy\) and both work as anadjective. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49142, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

répandues is recorded at frequency rank #24,760, classified as anadj, pronounced \ʁe.pɑ̃.dy\. répandus is at rank #24,382, 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 49142, this pair ranks #173,116 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of répandues vs répandus

Shared letters: adnprsué. Private to "répandues": e. Private to "répandus": -.

"répandues" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC  ·  "répandus" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "répandues" for "répandus" ever safe?
No. They are pronounced the same (\ʁe.pɑ̃.dy\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Which is more common, "répandues" or "répandus"?
"répandus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,382 in our French list, against #24,760 for "répandues". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.

  • Full dictionary entry for "répandues" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "répandus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #173,116 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "répandues" and "répandus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "répandus vs revendus". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #173,116 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