Which to use
“mâche” and “mèches” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,456
- “mâche” frequency rank
- #20,508
- “mèches” frequency rank
- 49964
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mâche | mèches |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nom vulgaire de Valerianella locusta, plante potagère de la famille des Caprifoliaceae (caprifoliacées) que l'on mange en salade. | Pluriel de mèche. |
Where the eye mixes mâche and mèches
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. mâche runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against mèches's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses mâche with mèches
A purely visual mix-up. mâche (\mɑʃ\) and mèches (\mɛʃ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49964, 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\. mèches is at rank #20,508, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɛʃ\.
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 49964, this pair ranks #166,440 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mâche vs mèches
Shared letters: cehm. Private to "mâche": â. Private to "mèches": sè.
"mâche" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "mèches" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mâche" and "mèches" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "mâche" or "mèches"?
After this comparison
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 "mèches" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #166,440 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mâche" and "mèches" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mâche vs mane". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #166,440 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.