Which to use
“mention” and “motion” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,724
- “mention” frequency rank
- #6,980
- “motion” frequency rank
- 9704
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mention | motion |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Action de mentionner, résultat de cette action. | Mouvement de va-et-vient du métier servant à faire la torsion des fils. |
Where the eye mixes mention and motion
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: mention vs motion
A purely visual mix-up. mention (\mɑ̃.sjɔ̃\) and motion (\mɔ.sjɔ̃\) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9704, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mention is recorded at frequency rank #2,724, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɑ̃.sjɔ̃\. motion is at rank #6,980, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɔ.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 9704, this pair ranks #415,726 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mention vs motion
Shared letters: imnot. Private to "mention": e. Private to "motion": -.
"mention" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "motion" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mention" for "motion" ever safe?
Frequency check: "mention" vs "motion" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "mention" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "motion" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #415,726 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mention" and "motion" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "molson vs motion". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #415,726 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.