mettre au pas

\mɛ.tʁ‿o pa\

/\mɛ.tʁ‿o pa\/ verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“mettre au pas” is outside the top-ranked French vocabulary, used as a verb - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
13
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Mettre à la raison ; obliger à faire son devoir ; contraindre à obéir.

Key facts for mettre au pas
PropertyValue
Headwordmettre au pas
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\mɛ.tʁ‿o pa\
Letters13
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “mettre au pas” sits in French frequency

mettre au pas falls outside the top-100,000 ranked French words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for mettre au pas is 13 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \mɛ.tʁ‿o pa\. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Mettre à la raison ; obliger à faire son devoir ; contraindre à obéir.".

No misspelling variants are generated for mettre au pas in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is mettre au pas, spelled M-E-T-T-R-E- -A-U- -P-A-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Mettre à la raison ; obliger à faire son devoir ; contraindre à obéir.

This word in other languages

bring to heel(English)ponerse las pilas(Español)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "mettre au pas"?
"mettre au pas" is spelled M-E-T-T-R-E- -A-U- -P-A-S. The IPA pronunciation is \mɛ.tʁ‿o pa\.
What does "mettre au pas" mean?
As a verb, "mettre au pas" means: Mettre à la raison ; obliger à faire son devoir ; contraindre à obéir.
How do you pronounce "mettre au pas"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "mettre au pas" is \mɛ.tʁ‿o pa\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "mettre au pas" come from?
"mettre au pas" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “mettre au pas”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is M-E-T-T-R-E- -A-U- -P-A-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \mɛ.tʁ‿o pa\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list