démentirvsdémonterWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#27,415
“démentir” frequency rank
#13,365
“démonter” frequency rank
40780
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature démentir démonter
Definition Contredire quelqu’un en niant la véracité de ce qu’il a affirmé. Arrêter le mouvement d’un mécanisme, qui a ensuite besoin d’être remonté.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set démentir and démonter apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
démentir
8 ch
démonter

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. démentir (\de.mɑ̃.tiʁ\) and démonter (\de.mɔ̃.te\) 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 40780, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

démentir is recorded at frequency rank #27,415, classified as averb, pronounced \de.mɑ̃.tiʁ\. démonter is at rank #13,365, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.mɔ̃.te\.

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 40780, this pair ranks #237,941 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of démentir vs démonter

Shared letters: demnrté. Private to "démentir": i. Private to "démonter": o.

"démentir" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "démonter" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Frequency comparison

démentir#27,415
démonter#13,365

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "démentir" and "démonter" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\de.mɑ̃.tiʁ\ versus \de.mɔ̃.te\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "démentir" or "démonter"?
"démonter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,365 in our French list, against #27,415 for "démentir". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering démentir vs démonter

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 “démentir” 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