Which to use
“répondait” and “répondrais” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,253
- “répondait” frequency rank
- #29,131
- “répondrais” frequency rank
- 42384
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | répondait | répondrais |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de répondre. | Première personne du singulier du conditionnel de répondre. |
Where the eye mixes répondait and répondrais
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. répondait 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.
Look-alike desk: répondait vs répondrais
A purely visual mix-up. répondait (\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 42384, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
répondait is recorded at frequency rank #13,253, 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 42384, this pair ranks #226,036 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of répondait vs répondrais
Shared letters: adinopré. Private to "répondait": t. Private to "répondrais": s.
"répondait" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC · "répondrais" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "répondait" and "répondrais" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "répondait" or "répondrais" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "répondait" 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 #226,036 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "répondait" and "répondrais" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "répondrais vs répondrons". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #226,036 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.