Which to use
“répondre” and “réponds” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #814
- “répondre” frequency rank
- #3,797
- “réponds” frequency rank
- 4611
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | répondre | réponds |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Donner une réponse à ce qui a été dit ou demandé. | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de répondre. |
Where the eye mixes répondre and réponds
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. répondre runs 8 letters (CVCVCCCV) against réponds's 7 (CVCVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses répondre with réponds
A purely visual mix-up. répondre (\ʁe.pɔ̃dʁ\) and réponds (\ʁe.pɔ̃\) 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 4611, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
répondre is recorded at frequency rank #814, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁe.pɔ̃dʁ\. réponds is at rank #3,797, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁe.pɔ̃\.
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 4611, this pair ranks #431,170 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of répondre vs réponds
Shared letters: dnopré. Private to "répondre": e. Private to "réponds": s.
"répondre" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCCV · "réponds" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "répondre" for "réponds" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "répondre" or "réponds" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "répondre" and "réponds" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "répondre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "réponds" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #431,170 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "répondre" and "réponds" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "réponds vs rêvons". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #431,170 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.