Which to use
“répondre” and “résoudre” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #814
- “répondre” frequency rank
- #2,961
- “résoudre” frequency rank
- 3775
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | répondre | résoudre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Donner une réponse à ce qui a été dit ou demandé. | Décomposer un corps en ses éléments. |
Where the eye mixes répondre and résoudre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. répondre (CVCVCCCV) and résoudre (CVCVVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between répondre and résoudre
A purely visual mix-up. répondre (\ʁe.pɔ̃dʁ\) and résoudre (\ʁe.zudʁ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3775, 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\. résoudre is at rank #2,961, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁe.zudʁ\.
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 3775, this pair ranks #433,227 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of répondre vs résoudre
Shared letters: deoré. Private to "répondre": np. Private to "résoudre": su.
"répondre" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCCV · "résoudre" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "répondre" and "résoudre" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "répondre" or "résoudre"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "répondre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "résoudre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #433,227 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "répondre" and "résoudre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "recouvré vs résoudre". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #433,227 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.