Which to use
“défendent” and “demandent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,647
- “défendent” frequency rank
- #3,193
- “demandent” frequency rank
- 12840
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | défendent | demandent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de défendre. | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de demander. |
Where the eye mixes défendent and demandent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. défendent and demandent follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between défendent and demandent
A purely visual mix-up. défendent (\de.fɑ̃d\) and demandent (\də.mɑ̃d\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12840, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
défendent is recorded at frequency rank #9,647, classified as averb, pronounced \de.fɑ̃d\. demandent is at rank #3,193, tagged as averb, pronounced \də.mɑ̃d\.
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 12840, this pair ranks #403,546 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of défendent vs demandent
Shared letters: dent. Private to "défendent": fé. Private to "demandent": am.
"défendent" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC · "demandent" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- demandent ← ddemandent · deamndent · demadnent · demanddent · demandennt · demandentt · demandetn · demandnet
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "défendent" for "demandent" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "défendent" or "demandent" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "défendent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "demandent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #403,546 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "défendent" and "demandent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décèdent vs défendent". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #403,546 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.