maintesvsmaintsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#10,028
“maintes” frequency rank
#37,418
“maints” frequency rank
47446
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature maintes maints
Definition Féminin pluriel de maint. Masculin pluriel de maint.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set maintes and maints apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
maintes
6 ch
maints

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. maintes (\mɛ̃t\) and maints (\mɛ̃\) 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 47446, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

maintes is recorded at frequency rank #10,028, classified as anadj, pronounced \mɛ̃t\. maints is at rank #37,418, tagged as anadj, pronounced \mɛ̃\.

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 47446, this pair ranks #186,860 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of maintes vs maints

Shared letters: aimnst. Private to "maintes": e. Private to "maints": -.

"maintes" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC  ·  "maints" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • maintesamintes · mainets · mainntes · maintess · maintse · mainttes · maitnes · manites
  • maintsamints · mainnts · mainst · maintss · maintts · maitns · manits · miants

Frequency comparison

maintes#10,028
maints#37,418

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "maintes" and "maints" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\mɛ̃t\ versus \mɛ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "maintes" or "maints"?
"maintes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,028 in our French list, against #37,418 for "maints". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering maintes vs maints

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 “maintes” 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