Which to use
“répondre” is a verb and “réponse” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #814
- “répondre” frequency rank
- #698
- “réponse” frequency rank
- 1512
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | répondre | réponse |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Donner une réponse à ce qui a été dit ou demandé. | Parole dite, ou acte effectué, en réaction à une question posée, une demande, ou à une déclaration, ou encore à un évènement. |
Where the eye mixes répondre and réponse
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: répondre vs réponse
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: répondre is \ʁe.pɔ̃dʁ\ while réponse is \ʁe.pɔ̃s\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1512, 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\. réponse is at rank #698, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁe.pɔ̃s\.
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 1512, this pair ranks #437,918 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of répondre vs réponse
Shared letters: enopré. Private to "répondre": d. Private to "réponse": s.
"répondre" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCCV · "réponse" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "répondre" and "réponse" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "répondre" or "réponse"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "répondre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "réponse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #437,918 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "répondre" and "réponse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "réponse vs rêvons". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #437,918 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.