démolirvsdémolisWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#15,861
“démolir” frequency rank
#35,912
“démolis” frequency rank
51773
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature démolir démolis
Definition Abattre un bâtiment, une construction. Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de démolir.

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
démolir
7 ch
démolis

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. démolir (\de.mɔ.liʁ\) and démolis (\de.mɔ.li\) 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 a single letter - r in “démolir” becomes s in “démolis”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51773, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

démolir is recorded at frequency rank #15,861, classified as averb, pronounced \de.mɔ.liʁ\. démolis is at rank #35,912, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.mɔ.li\.

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 51773, this pair ranks #152,585 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of démolir vs démolis

Shared letters: dilmoé. Private to "démolir": r. Private to "démolis": s.

"démolir" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "démolis" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Frequency comparison

démolir#15,861
démolis#35,912

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "démolir" and "démolis" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\de.mɔ.liʁ\ versus \de.mɔ.li\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "démolir" or "démolis"?
"démolir" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,861 in our French list, against #35,912 for "démolis". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering démolir vs démolis

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 “démolir” 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