dormevsdormentWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#30,132
“dorme” frequency rank
#12,551
“dorment” frequency rank
42683
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dorme dorment
Definition Première personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif de dormir. Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de dormir.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dorme and dorment apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
dorme
7 ch
dorment

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. dorme and dorment are pronounced identically (\dɔʁm\) and both work as averb. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “dorme” sits inside “dorment”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42683, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dorme is recorded at frequency rank #30,132, classified as averb, pronounced \dɔʁm\. dorment is at rank #12,551, tagged as averb, pronounced \dɔʁm\.

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 42683, this pair ranks #223,738 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dorme vs dorment

Shared letters: demor. Private to "dorme": -. Private to "dorment": nt.

"dorme" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "dorment" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dormeddorme · domre · dorem · dormme · dorrme · drome · odrme
  • dormentddorment · domrent · doremnt · dormennt · dormentt · dormetn · dormment · dormnet

Frequency comparison

dorme#30,132
dorment#12,551

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dorme" and "dorment" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\dɔʁm\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Which is more common, "dorme" or "dorment"?
"dorment" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,551 in our French list, against #30,132 for "dorme". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dorme vs dorment

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 “dorme” 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