motions vs motos, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#29,452
“motions” frequency rank: #13,010
“motos” frequency rank: 42462
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	motions	motos
Definition	Pluriel de motion.	Pluriel de moto.

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch

motions

5 ch

motos

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. motions (\mɔ.sjɔ̃\) and motos (\mo.to\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42462, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

motions is recorded at frequency rank #29,452, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɔ.sjɔ̃\. motos is at rank #13,010, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mo.to\.

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 42462, this pair ranks #225,436 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of motions vs motos

Shared letters: most. Private to "motions": in. Private to "motos": -.

"motions" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC · "motos" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

motions ← mmotions · moitons · motinos · motionns · motionss · motiosn · motoins · mottions
motos ← mmotos · moots · motoss · motso · mottos · mtoos · omtos

Frequency comparison

motions#29,452

motos#13,010

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "motions" and "motos" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (\mɔ.sjɔ̃\ versus \mo.to\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "motions" or "motos"?

"motos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,010 in our French list, against #29,452 for "motions". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering motions vs motos

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 “motions” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable