maîtrevsmoitiéWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#946
“maître” frequency rank
#849
“moitié” frequency rank
1795
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature maître moitié
Definition Personne qui exerce son autorité. L’une des parties d’un tout divisé, partagé également en deux.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set maître and moitié apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
maître
6 ch
moitié

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. maître (\mɛtʁ\) and moitié (\mwa.tje\) 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 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1795, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

maître is recorded at frequency rank #946, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɛtʁ\. moitié is at rank #849, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mwa.tje\.

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 1795, this pair ranks #437,387 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of maître vs moitié

Shared letters: mt. Private to "maître": aerî. Private to "moitié": ioé.

"maître" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "moitié" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVV

Frequency comparison

maître#946
moitié#849

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "maître" and "moitié" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\mɛtʁ\ versus \mwa.tje\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "maître" or "moitié"?
"moitié" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #849 in our French list, against #946 for "maître". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering maître vs moitié

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 “maître” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list