défendezvsdemandezWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#29,738
“défendez” frequency rank
#5,121
“demandez” frequency rank
34859
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature défendez demandez
Definition Deuxième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de défendre. Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de demander.

Where the eye mixes défendez and demandez

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. défendez and demandez follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
défendez
8 ch
demandez

Look-alike desk: défendez vs demandez

A purely visual mix-up. défendez (\de.fɑ̃.de\) and demandez (\də.mɑ̃.de\) 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 34859, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

défendez is recorded at frequency rank #29,738, classified as averb, pronounced \de.fɑ̃.de\. demandez is at rank #5,121, tagged as averb, pronounced \də.mɑ̃.de\.

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 34859, this pair ranks #280,857 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of défendez vs demandez

Shared letters: denz. Private to "défendez": . Private to "demandez": am.

"défendez" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "demandez" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • demandezddemandez · deamndez · demadnez · demanddez · demandezz · demandze · demanedz · demanndez

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "défendez" and "demandez" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\de.fɑ̃.de\ versus \də.mɑ̃.de\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "défendez" vs "demandez" - which ranks higher?
"demandez" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,121 in our French list, against #29,738 for "défendez". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "défendez" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "demandez" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #280,857 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "défendez" and "demandez" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "defender vs défendez". 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 #280,857 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list