Which to use
“mainte” is an adjective and “mente” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #45,723
- “mainte” frequency rank
- #32,068
- “mente” frequency rank
- 77791
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mainte | mente |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de maint. | Première personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif de mentir. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mainte and mente apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
mainte and mente form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77791, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mainte is recorded at frequency rank #45,723, classified as anadj, pronounced \mɛ̃t\. mente is at rank #32,068, tagged as averb, pronounced \mɑ̃t\.
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 77791, this pair ranks #27,451 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mainte" and "mente" be used interchangeably?
Remembering mainte vs mente
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “mainte”; for a verb, it's “mente”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “mainte” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable