dentsvsdénuésWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: dents is a noun, dénués is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“dents” is a noun and “dénués” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,313
“dents” frequency rank
#42,844
“dénués” frequency rank
45157
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dents dénués
Definition Pluriel de dent. Masculin pluriel de dénué.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dents and dénués apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
dents
6 ch
dénués

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dents is \dɑ̃\ while dénués is \de.nɥe\. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45157, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dents is recorded at frequency rank #2,313, classified as anoun, pronounced \dɑ̃\. dénués is at rank #42,844, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.nɥe\.

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 45157, this pair ranks #204,944 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dents vs dénués

Shared letters: dns. Private to "dents": et. Private to "dénués": .

"dents" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "dénués" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dentsddents · dennts · denst · dentss · dentts · detns · dnets · ednts

Frequency comparison

dents#2,313
dénués#42,844

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dents" and "dénués" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dents" is a noun and "dénués" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "dents" or "dénués"?
"dents" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,313 in our French list, against #42,844 for "dénués". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering dents vs dénués

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “dents”; for an adjective, it's “dénués”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dents” 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