répondaitvsrépondraitWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#13,253
“répondait” frequency rank
#34,736
“répondrait” frequency rank
47989
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature répondait répondrait
Definition Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de répondre. Troisième personne du singulier du conditionnel de répondre.

Where the eye mixes répondait and répondrait

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. répondait runs 9 letters (CVCVCCVVC) against répondrait's 10 (CVCVCCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
répondait
10 ch
répondrait

Why the eye confuses répondait with répondrait

A purely visual mix-up. répondait (\ʁe.pɔ̃.dɛ\) and répondrait (\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 47989, 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\. répondrait is at rank #34,736, 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 47989, this pair ranks #182,543 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of répondait vs répondrait

Shared letters: adinoprté. Private to "répondait": -. Private to "répondrait": -.

"répondait" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC  ·  "répondrait" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "répondait" and "répondrait" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\ʁe.pɔ̃.dɛ\ versus \ʁe.pɔ̃.dʁɛ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "répondait" or "répondrait"?
"répondait" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,253 in our French list, against #34,736 for "répondrait". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "répondait" and "répondrait" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "répondait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "répondrait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #182,543 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "répondait" and "répondrait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "répondrait vs reprendrait". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #182,543 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