Français homophones

mean/min/mine/mines/mins

"mean" is a verb; "min" is a noun - grammar picks the spelling, not sound. Size rank #101 of 9,139 French groups.

Data vintage 2026-05-06

Grammar picks the spelling

Same sound, different grammar: "mean" arrives as a verb, while "min" is a noun. Once the sentence role is fixed, only one spelling fits.

Spelling pairs in this cluster

No shared spelling stem: "mean" is 4 letters, "min" is 3; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "mean" is 4 letters, "mine" is 4; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "mean" is 4 letters, "mines" is 5; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "mean" is 4 letters, "mins" is 4; only the sound ties them.
Shared stem "min" then splits - "min" (3 letters) vs "mine" (4).
Shared stem "min" then splits - "min" (3 letters) vs "mines" (5).
Shared stem "min" then splits - "min" (3 letters) vs "mins" (4).
Shared stem "mine" then splits - "mine" (4 letters) vs "mines" (5).
Single-letter fork: "mine" keeps e, "mins" writes s at letter 4.
Shared stem "min" then splits - "mines" (5 letters) vs "mins" (4).

Orthographic DNA of this cluster

Shared letters across mean, min, mine, mines, mins: mn. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.

mean
4 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVVC
Inventory aemn · private ae
min
3 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVC
Inventory imn · private i
mine
4 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVCV
Inventory eimn · private ei
mines
5 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVCVC
Inventory eimns · private eis
mins
4 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVCC
Inventory imns · private is

Pick the spelling from the meaning

Write "mean" when you mean: Signifier, vouloir dire.
Write "min" when you mean: Langue chinoise parlées dans les provinces du Fujian, du Guangdong et du Hainan.
Write "mine" when you mean: Endroit d’où l’on extrait le minerai, par opposition aux carrières. Elles peuvent être souterraines ou à ciel ouvert.
Write "mines" when you mean: Pluriel de mine.
Write "mins" when you mean: Pluriel de min.

Known mistypes of these spellings

Edit-distance variants recorded against this cluster: useful when a search or OCR feed lands on the wrong form.

mean ← eman · meann · mmean
mine ← imne · minne · mmine · mnie
mines ← imnes · miness · minnes · minse · mmines · mnies
mins ← imns · minns · minss · misn · mmins · mnis

Each spelling

mean

verb · /\ˈmin\/ · #29,857 frequency

Signifier, vouloir dire.

min

noun · /\min\/ · #2,135 frequency

Langue chinoise parlées dans les provinces du Fujian, du Guangdong et du Hainan.

mine

noun · /\min\/ · #2,885 frequency

Endroit d’où l’on extrait le minerai, par opposition aux carrières. Elles peuvent être souterraines ou à ciel ouvert.

mines

noun · /\min\/ · #3,341 frequency

Pluriel de mine.

mins

noun · /\min\/ · #38,919 frequency

Pluriel de min.