Which to use
“mâche” and “match” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,456
- “mâche” frequency rank
- #455
- “match” frequency rank
- 29911
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mâche | match |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nom vulgaire de Valerianella locusta, plante potagère de la famille des Caprifoliaceae (caprifoliacées) que l'on mange en salade. | Lutte entre deux concurrents ou deux équipes, rencontre (sportive). |
Where the eye mixes mâche and match
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. mâche (CVCCV) and match (CVCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between mâche and match
A purely visual mix-up. mâche (\mɑʃ\) and match (\matʃ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29911, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mâche is recorded at frequency rank #29,456, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɑʃ\. match is at rank #455, tagged as anoun, pronounced \matʃ\.
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 29911, this pair ranks #313,715 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mâche vs match
Shared letters: chm. Private to "mâche": eâ. Private to "match": at.
"mâche" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "match" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- match ← amtch · macth · matcch · matchh · mathc · mattch · mmatch · mtach
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mâche" and "match" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "mâche" or "match"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "mâche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "match" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #313,715 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mâche" and "match" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mâche vs mane". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #313,715 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.