Which to use
“réponde” and “répondent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,789
- “réponde” frequency rank
- #5,396
- “répondent” frequency rank
- 20185
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | réponde | répondent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif de répondre. | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de répondre. |
Same sound, different letters: réponde vs répondent
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 7 letters. réponde runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against répondent's 9 (CVCVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Homophone desk: réponde vs répondent
This is the hard kind. réponde and répondent are pronounced identically (\ʁe.pɔ̃d\) and both work as averb. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “réponde” sits inside “répondent”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20185, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
réponde is recorded at frequency rank #14,789, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁe.pɔ̃d\. répondent is at rank #5,396, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁe.pɔ̃d\.
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 20185, this pair ranks #369,556 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of réponde vs répondent
Shared letters: denopré. Private to "réponde": -. Private to "répondent": t.
"réponde" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "répondent" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "réponde" for "répondent" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "réponde" or "répondent" show up more?
What to do next
You've separated the homophone pair "réponde" / "répondent". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "réponde" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "répondent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #369,556 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "réponde" and "répondent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "refonder vs réponde". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #369,556 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.