Which to use
“dément” is an adjective and “détient” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,364
- “dément” frequency rank
- #7,432
- “détient” frequency rank
- 20796
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dément | détient |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui est dans l’état de démence. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de détenir. |
Where the eye mixes dément and détient
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. dément runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against détient's 7 (CVCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: dément vs détient
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dément is \de.mɑ̃\ while détient is \de.tjɛ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20796, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dément is recorded at frequency rank #13,364, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.mɑ̃\. détient is at rank #7,432, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.tjɛ̃\.
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 20796, this pair ranks #366,453 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of dément vs détient
Shared letters: denté. Private to "dément": m. Private to "détient": i.
"dément" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "détient" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dément" for "détient" ever safe?
Frequency check: "dément" vs "détient" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "dément" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "détient" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #366,453 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dément" and "détient" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décents vs dément". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #366,453 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.