mottavsmotusWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: motta is a verb, motus is an intj, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“motta” is a verb and “motus” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#25,405
“motta” frequency rank
#45,186
“motus” frequency rank
70591
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature motta motus
Definition Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple du verbe motter. Interjection pour demander à quelqu’un de ne rien dire. Silence !

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set motta and motus apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
motta
5 ch
motus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: motta is \mɔ.ta\ while motus is \mɔ.tys\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70591, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

motta is recorded at frequency rank #25,405, classified as averb, pronounced \mɔ.ta\. motus is at rank #45,186, tagged as anintj, pronounced \mɔ.tys\.

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 70591, this pair ranks #50,770 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of motta vs motus

Shared letters: mot. Private to "motta": a. Private to "motus": su.

"motta" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "motus" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mottammotta · mota · motat · mtota · omtta
  • motusmmotus · motsu · mottus · motuss · mouts · mtous · omtus

Frequency comparison

motta#25,405
motus#45,186

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "motta" and "motus" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "motta" is a verb and "motus" an intj, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "motta" or "motus"?
"motta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,405 in our French list, against #45,186 for "motus". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering motta vs motus

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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