degasvsdemisWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: degas is a verb, demis is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“degas” is a verb and “demis” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#39,742
“degas” frequency rank
#35,459
“demis” frequency rank
75201
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature degas demis
Definition Enlever le gaz de. Masculin pluriel de demi.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set degas and demis apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
degas
5 ch
demis

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: degas is \ˈde.ɡaz\ while demis is \də.mi\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75201, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

degas is recorded at frequency rank #39,742, classified as averb, pronounced \ˈde.ɡaz\. demis is at rank #35,459, tagged as anadj, pronounced \də.mi\.

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 75201, this pair ranks #34,788 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of degas vs demis

Shared letters: des. Private to "degas": ag. Private to "demis": im.

"degas" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "demis" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • degasddegas · deags · degass · deggas · degsa · dgeas · edgas
  • demisddemis · deims · demiss · demmis · demsi · dmeis · edmis

Frequency comparison

degas#39,742
demis#35,459

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "degas" and "demis" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "degas" is a verb and "demis" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "degas" or "demis"?
"demis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,459 in our French list, against #39,742 for "degas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering degas vs demis

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “degas”; for an adjective, it's “demis”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “degas” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list