DemersvsdiversWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Demers is a name, divers is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Demers” is a name and “divers” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#42,818
“Demers” frequency rank
#1,257
“divers” frequency rank
44075
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Demers divers
Definition Nom de famille. Qui est de nature ou de qualité différente, ou qui présente plusieurs faces, plusieurs apparences.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
Demers
6 ch
divers

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Demers is \də.mɛʁs\ while divers is \di.vɛʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44075, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Demers is recorded at frequency rank #42,818, classified as aname, pronounced \də.mɛʁs\. divers is at rank #1,257, tagged as anadj, pronounced \di.vɛʁ\.

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 44075, this pair ranks #213,249 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Demers vs divers

Shared letters: ders. Private to "Demers": m. Private to "divers": iv.

"Demers" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "divers" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Demersddemers · deemrs · demerrs · demerss · demesr · demmers · demres · dmeers
  • diversddivers · dievrs · diverrs · diverss · divesr · divres · divvers · dviers

Frequency comparison

Demers#42,818
divers#1,257

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Demers" and "divers" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Demers" is a name and "divers" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Demers" or "divers"?
"divers" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,257 in our French list, against #42,818 for "Demers". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Demers vs divers

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a name, it's “Demers”; for an adjective, it's “divers”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Demers” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list