Which to use
“démarrer” and “déterrer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,954
- “démarrer” frequency rank
- #37,783
- “déterrer” frequency rank
- 45737
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | démarrer | déterrer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Quitter le port en parlant d’un bâtiment. | Retirer de terre ce qui s’y trouvait caché, enfoui. |
Where the eye mixes démarrer and déterrer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. démarrer and déterrer follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses démarrer with déterrer
A purely visual mix-up. démarrer (\de.ma.ʁe\) and déterrer (\de.te.ʁe\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45737, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
démarrer is recorded at frequency rank #7,954, classified as averb, pronounced \de.ma.ʁe\. déterrer is at rank #37,783, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.te.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 45737, this pair ranks #200,409 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of démarrer vs déterrer
Shared letters: deré. Private to "démarrer": am. Private to "déterrer": t.
"démarrer" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "déterrer" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "démarrer" and "déterrer" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "démarrer" or "déterrer" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "démarrer" and "déterrer" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "démarrer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "déterrer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #200,409 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "démarrer" and "déterrer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "desserrer vs déterrer". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #200,409 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.