Which to use
“répondais” and “répondrais” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,489
- “répondais” frequency rank
- #29,131
- “répondrais” frequency rank
- 54620
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | répondais | répondrais |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’imparfait de répondre. | Première personne du singulier du conditionnel de répondre. |
Where the eye mixes répondais and répondrais
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. répondais runs 9 letters (CVCVCCVVC) against répondrais's 10 (CVCVCCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between répondais and répondrais
A purely visual mix-up. répondais (\ʁe.pɔ̃.dɛ\) and répondrais (\ʁe.pɔ̃.dʁɛ\) 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 54620, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
répondais is recorded at frequency rank #25,489, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁe.pɔ̃.dɛ\. répondrais is at rank #29,131, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁe.pɔ̃.dʁɛ\.
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 54620, this pair ranks #132,779 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of répondais vs répondrais
Shared letters: adinoprsé. Private to "répondais": -. Private to "répondrais": -.
"répondais" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC · "répondrais" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "répondais" and "répondrais" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "répondais" vs "répondrais" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "répondais" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "répondrais" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #132,779 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "répondais" and "répondrais" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "répondrais vs répondrons". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #132,779 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.