Which to use
“madre” is a noun and “maigre” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #33,769
- “madre” frequency rank
- #8,733
- “maigre” frequency rank
- 42502
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | madre | maigre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Bois veiné, ou tacheté issus du cœur ou de la racine et généralement utilisé pour confectionner des récipients pour boire | Qui contient peu ou pas de graisse ou de liant. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set madre and maigre apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: madre is \madʁ\ while maigre is \mɛɡʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42502, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
madre is recorded at frequency rank #33,769, classified as anoun, pronounced \madʁ\. maigre is at rank #8,733, tagged as anadj, pronounced \mɛɡʁ\.
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 42502, this pair ranks #225,130 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of madre vs maigre
Shared letters: aemr. Private to "madre": d. Private to "maigre": gi.
"madre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "maigre" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "madre" and "maigre" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "madre" or "maigre"?
Remembering madre vs maigre
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “madre”; for an adjective, it's “maigre”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “madre” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable