réparervsrepasserWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,986
“réparer” frequency rank
#10,061
“repasser” frequency rank
15047
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature réparer repasser
Definition Remettre en état ce qui a été endommagé. Passer de nouveau.

Where the eye mixes réparer and repasser

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
réparer
8 ch
repasser

Why the eye confuses réparer with repasser

A purely visual mix-up. réparer (\ʁe.pa.ʁe\) and repasser (\ʁə.pɑ.se\) 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 15047, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

réparer is recorded at frequency rank #4,986, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁe.pa.ʁe\. repasser is at rank #10,061, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.pɑ.se\.

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 15047, this pair ranks #394,094 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of réparer vs repasser

Shared letters: aepr. Private to "réparer": é. Private to "repasser": s.

"réparer" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "repasser" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • repassererpasser · reapsser · repaser · repasesr · repasserr · repassre · reppasser · repsaser

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "réparer" and "repasser" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʁe.pa.ʁe\ versus \ʁə.pɑ.se\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "réparer" or "repasser"?
"réparer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,986 in our French list, against #10,061 for "repasser". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "réparer" and "repasser" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "réparer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "repasser" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #394,094 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "réparer" and "repasser" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "repasser vs ressasser". 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 #394,094 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