réparervsreplacerWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#4,986
“réparer” frequency rank
#22,070
“replacer” frequency rank
27056
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature réparer replacer
Definition Remettre en état ce qui a été endommagé. Remettre à sa place.

Where the eye mixes réparer and replacer

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

7 ch
réparer
8 ch
replacer

Why the eye confuses réparer with replacer

A purely visual mix-up. réparer (\ʁe.pa.ʁe\) and replacer (\ʁə.pla.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 27056, 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\. replacer is at rank #22,070, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.pla.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 27056, this pair ranks #331,331 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of réparer vs replacer

Shared letters: aepr. Private to "réparer": é. Private to "replacer": cl.

"réparer" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "replacer" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • replacererplacer · relpacer · repalcer · replaccer · replacerr · replacre · replaecr · replcaer

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "réparer" and "replacer" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʁe.pa.ʁe\ versus \ʁə.pla.se\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "réparer" or "replacer"?
"réparer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,986 in our French list, against #22,070 for "replacer". 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 "réparer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "replacer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #331,331 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "réparer" and "replacer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "replacé vs replacer". 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 #331,331 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