répondvsreposéWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,755
“répond” frequency rank
#25,794
“reposé” frequency rank
27549
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature répond reposé
Definition Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de répondre. Participe passé masculin singulier du verbe reposer.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set répond and reposé apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
répond
6 ch
reposé

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. répond (\ʁe.pɔ̃\) and reposé (\ʁə.po.ze\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27549, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

répond is recorded at frequency rank #1,755, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁe.pɔ̃\. reposé is at rank #25,794, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.po.ze\.

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 27549, this pair ranks #328,260 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of répond vs reposé

Shared letters: opré. Private to "répond": dn. Private to "reposé": es.

"répond" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "reposé" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Frequency comparison

répond#1,755
reposé#25,794

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "répond" and "reposé" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʁe.pɔ̃\ versus \ʁə.po.ze\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "répond" or "reposé"?
"répond" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,755 in our French list, against #25,794 for "reposé". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering répond vs reposé

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 “répond” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list