répondevsreposéWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#14,789
“réponde” frequency rank
#25,794
“reposé” frequency rank
40583
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature réponde reposé
Definition Première personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif de répondre. Participe passé masculin singulier du verbe reposer.

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
réponde
6 ch
reposé

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. réponde (\ʁe.pɔ̃d\) 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40583, 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\. 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 40583, this pair ranks #239,433 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of réponde vs reposé

Shared letters: eopré. Private to "réponde": dn. Private to "reposé": s.

"réponde" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "reposé" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Frequency comparison

réponde#14,789
reposé#25,794

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "réponde" and "reposé" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʁe.pɔ̃d\ versus \ʁə.po.ze\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "réponde" or "reposé"?
"réponde" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,789 in our French list, against #25,794 for "reposé". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering réponde 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 “réponde” 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