Which to use
“maîtres” is an adjective and “mètre” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,083
- “maîtres” frequency rank
- #6,113
- “mètre” frequency rank
- 10196
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maîtres | mètre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de maître. | Unité de mesure de longueur du Système international, dont le symbole est m. Le mètre est défini de manière universelle depuis 1983 par la longueur du trajet parcouru par la lumière dans le vide en 1/299 792 458 de seconde. |
Same sound, different letters: maîtres vs mètre
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 4 letters. maîtres runs 7 letters (CVVCCVC) against mètre's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Ear matches; page differs - maîtres and mètre
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: maîtres and mètre carry the same recorded pronunciation, \mɛtʁ\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10196, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
maîtres is recorded at frequency rank #4,083, classified as anadj, pronounced \mɛtʁ\. mètre is at rank #6,113, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɛtʁ\.
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 10196, this pair ranks #413,873 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of maîtres vs mètre
Shared letters: emrt. Private to "maîtres": asî. Private to "mètre": è.
"maîtres" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC · "mètre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "maîtres" and "mètre" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "maîtres" or "mètre" show up more?
After this comparison
You've separated the homophone pair "maîtres" / "mètre". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "maîtres" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mètre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #413,873 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maîtres" and "mètre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Méry vs mètre". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #413,873 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.