Which to use
“maîtres” is an adjective and “mettre” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,083
- “maîtres” frequency rank
- #227
- “mettre” frequency rank
- 4310
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maîtres | mettre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de maître. | Placer une personne, ou un animal, ou une chose dans un lieu déterminé. |
Same sound, different letters: maîtres vs mettre
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 4 letters. maîtres runs 7 letters (CVVCCVC) against mettre's 6 (CVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Same sound, different spelling - maîtres / mettre
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: maîtres and mettre carry the same recorded pronunciation, \mɛtʁ\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4310, 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\. mettre is at rank #227, tagged as averb, 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 4310, this pair ranks #431,933 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of maîtres vs mettre
Shared letters: emrt. Private to "maîtres": asî. Private to "mettre": -.
"maîtres" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC · "mettre" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- mettre ← emttre · metre · metrte · metter · mettrre · mmettre · mtetre
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "maîtres" for "mettre" ever safe?
Which is more common, "maîtres" or "mettre"?
What to do next
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "maîtres" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mettre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #431,933 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maîtres" and "mettre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mettre vs meutre". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #431,933 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.