démolivsdémolirWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#21,297
“démoli” frequency rank
#15,861
“démolir” frequency rank
37158
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature démoli démolir
Definition Participe passé masculin singulier de démolir. Abattre un bâtiment, une construction.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
démoli
7 ch
démolir

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. démoli (\de.mɔ.li\) and démolir (\de.mɔ.liʁ\) 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 extra letter(s) - “démoli” sits inside “démolir”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37158, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

démoli is recorded at frequency rank #21,297, classified as averb, pronounced \de.mɔ.li\. démolir is at rank #15,861, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.mɔ.liʁ\.

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 37158, this pair ranks #264,476 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of démoli vs démolir

Shared letters: dilmoé. Private to "démoli": -. Private to "démolir": r.

"démoli" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "démolir" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Frequency comparison

démoli#21,297
démolir#15,861

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "démoli" and "démolir" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\de.mɔ.li\ versus \de.mɔ.liʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "démoli" or "démolir"?
"démolir" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,861 in our French list, against #21,297 for "démoli". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering démoli vs démolir

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 “démoli” 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