demainvsdrainWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#601
“demain” frequency rank
#33,222
“drain” frequency rank
33823
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature demain drain
Definition Les temps à venir. Une des trois électrodes d’un transistor à effet de champ (les deux autres sont appelées source et grille). Il joue un rôle analogue à l’anode dans les tubes à vide, ou le collecteur dans les transistors bipolaires.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set demain and drain apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
demain
5 ch
drain

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. demain (\də.mɛ̃\) and drain (\dʁɛ̃\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33823, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

demain is recorded at frequency rank #601, classified as anoun, pronounced \də.mɛ̃\. drain is at rank #33,222, tagged as anoun, pronounced \dʁɛ̃\.

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 33823, this pair ranks #288,044 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of demain vs drain

Shared letters: adin. Private to "demain": em. Private to "drain": r.

"demain" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "drain" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • demainddemain · deamin · demainn · demani · demian · demmain · dmeain · edmain
  • draindarin · ddrain · drainn · drani · drian · drrain

Frequency comparison

demain#601
drain#33,222

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "demain" and "drain" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\də.mɛ̃\ versus \dʁɛ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "demain" or "drain"?
"demain" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #601 in our French list, against #33,222 for "drain". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering demain vs drain

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “demain” 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