Which to use
“mentions” and “motions” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,864
- “mentions” frequency rank
- #29,452
- “motions” frequency rank
- 37316
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mentions | motions |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de mention. | Pluriel de motion. |
Where the eye mixes mentions and motions
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. mentions runs 8 letters (CVCCVVCC) against motions's 7 (CVCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: mentions vs motions
A purely visual mix-up. mentions (\mɑ̃.sjɔ̃\) and motions (\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 37316, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mentions is recorded at frequency rank #7,864, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɑ̃.sjɔ̃\. motions is at rank #29,452, 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 37316, this pair ranks #263,298 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mentions vs motions
Shared letters: imnost. Private to "mentions": e. Private to "motions": -.
"mentions" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCC · "motions" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mentions" and "motions" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "mentions" vs "motions" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "mentions" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "motions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #263,298 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mentions" and "motions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "montons vs motions". 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 #263,298 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.