mentivsmentionWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: menti is a verb, mention is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“menti” is a verb and “mention” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#8,127
“menti” frequency rank
#2,724
“mention” frequency rank
10851
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature menti mention
Definition Participe passé masculin singulier de mentir. Action de mentionner, résultat de cette action.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
menti
7 ch
mention

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: menti is \mɑ̃.ti\ while mention is \mɑ̃.sjɔ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “menti” sits inside “mention”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10851, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

menti is recorded at frequency rank #8,127, classified as averb, pronounced \mɑ̃.ti\. mention is at rank #2,724, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɑ̃.sjɔ̃\.

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 10851, this pair ranks #411,429 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of menti vs mention

Shared letters: eimnt. Private to "menti": -. Private to "mention": o.

"menti" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "mention" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mentiemnti · menit · mennti · mentti · metni · mmenti · mneti
  • mentionemntion · meniton · menntion · mentino · mentionn · mentoin · menttion · metnion

Frequency comparison

menti#8,127
mention#2,724

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "menti" and "mention" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "menti" is a verb and "mention" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "menti" or "mention"?
"mention" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,724 in our French list, against #8,127 for "menti". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering menti vs mention

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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