repassévsrepenséWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#27,940
“repassé” frequency rank
#30,338
“repensé” frequency rank
58278
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature repassé repensé
Definition Participe passé masculin singulier de repasser. Participe passé masculin singulier de repenser.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set repassé and repensé apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
repassé
7 ch
repensé

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. repassé (\ʁə.pa.se\) and repensé (\ʁə.pɑ̃.se\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58278, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

repassé is recorded at frequency rank #27,940, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.pa.se\. repensé is at rank #30,338, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.pɑ̃.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 58278, this pair ranks #109,986 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of repassé vs repensé

Shared letters: eprsé. Private to "repassé": a. Private to "repensé": n.

"repassé" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "repensé" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Frequency comparison

repassé#27,940
repensé#30,338

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "repassé" and "repensé" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʁə.pa.se\ versus \ʁə.pɑ̃.se\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "repassé" or "repensé"?
"repassé" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,940 in our French list, against #30,338 for "repensé". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering repassé vs repensé

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “repassé” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list