maigresvsmaintesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“maigres” and “maintes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#17,476
“maigres” frequency rank
#10,028
“maintes” frequency rank
27504
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature maigres maintes
Definition Pluriel de maigre. Féminin pluriel de maint.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set maigres and maintes apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
maigres
7 ch
maintes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. maigres (\mɛɡʁ\) and maintes (\mɛ̃t\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27504, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

maigres is recorded at frequency rank #17,476, classified as anadj, pronounced \mɛɡʁ\. maintes is at rank #10,028, tagged as anadj, pronounced \mɛ̃t\.

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 27504, this pair ranks #328,552 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of maigres vs maintes

Shared letters: aeims. Private to "maigres": gr. Private to "maintes": nt.

"maigres" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC  ·  "maintes" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • maigresamigres · magires · maigers · maiggres · maigress · maigrres · maigrse · mairges
  • maintesamintes · mainets · mainntes · maintess · maintse · mainttes · maitnes · manites

Frequency comparison

maigres#17,476
maintes#10,028

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "maigres" and "maintes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\mɛɡʁ\ versus \mɛ̃t\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "maigres" or "maintes"?
"maintes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,028 in our French list, against #17,476 for "maigres". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering maigres vs maintes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “maigres” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list