mesvsmotWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: mes is a unknown, mot is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“mes” is an unknown and “mot” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,176
“mes” frequency rank
#42,693
“mot” frequency rank
73869
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mes mot
Definition Plural Maskulinum des Pronomens mon Wort

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mes and mot apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
mes
3 ch
mot

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mes is [me] while mot is [mo]. 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 (unknown vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73869, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mes is recorded at frequency rank #31,176, classified as anunknown, pronounced [me]. mot is at rank #42,693, tagged as anoun, pronounced [mo].

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 73869, this pair ranks #348,738 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of mes vs mot

Shared letters: m. Private to "mes": es. Private to "mot": ot.

"mes" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "mot" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequency comparison

mes#31,176
mot#42,693

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mes" and "mot" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mes" is an unknown and "mot" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "mes" or "mot"?
"mes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,176 in our German list, against #42,693 for "mot". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering mes vs mot

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an unknown, it's “mes”; for a noun, it's “mot”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “mes” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list