démarquervsdémarrerConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#18,999
“démarquer” frequency rank
#7,954
“démarrer” frequency rank
26953
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature démarquer démarrer
Definition Démunir un objet de sa marque. Quitter le port en parlant d’un bâtiment.

Where the eye mixes démarquer and démarrer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. démarquer runs 9 letters (CVCVCCVVC) against démarrer's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
démarquer
8 ch
démarrer

Look-alike desk: démarquer vs démarrer

A purely visual mix-up. démarquer (\de.maʁ.ke\) and démarrer (\de.ma.ʁe\) 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 26953, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

démarquer is recorded at frequency rank #18,999, classified as averb, pronounced \de.maʁ.ke\. démarrer is at rank #7,954, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.ma.ʁe\.

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 26953, this pair ranks #331,849 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of démarquer vs démarrer

Shared letters: ademré. Private to "démarquer": qu. Private to "démarrer": -.

"démarquer" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC  ·  "démarrer" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "démarquer" for "démarrer" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\de.maʁ.ke\ versus \de.ma.ʁe\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "démarquer" vs "démarrer" - which ranks higher?
"démarrer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,954 in our French list, against #18,999 for "démarquer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "démarquer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "démarrer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #331,849 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "démarquer" and "démarrer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "démarquent vs démarquer". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #331,849 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