maîtrisevsmaîtrisentWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: maîtrise is a noun, maîtrisent is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“maîtrise” is a noun and “maîtrisent” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,276
“maîtrise” frequency rank
#27,523
“maîtrisent” frequency rank
30799
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature maîtrise maîtrisent
Definition Qualité de maître, en parlant des métiers. Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de maîtriser.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set maîtrise and maîtrisent apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
maîtrise
10 ch
maîtrisent

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: maîtrise and maîtrisent carry the same recorded pronunciation, \mɛ.tʁiz\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “maîtrise” sits inside “maîtrisent”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30799, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

maîtrise is recorded at frequency rank #3,276, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɛ.tʁiz\. maîtrisent is at rank #27,523, tagged as averb, pronounced \mɛ.tʁiz\.

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 30799, this pair ranks #307,917 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of maîtrise vs maîtrisent

Shared letters: aeimrstî. Private to "maîtrise": -. Private to "maîtrisent": n.

"maîtrise" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCV  ·  "maîtrisent" · 10 letters · shape CVVCCVCVCC

Frequency comparison

maîtrise#3,276
maîtrisent#27,523

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "maîtrise" and "maîtrisent" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "maîtrise" is a noun and "maîtrisent" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "maîtrise" or "maîtrisent"?
"maîtrise" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,276 in our French list, against #27,523 for "maîtrisent". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering maîtrise vs maîtrisent

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “maîtrise”; for a verb, it's “maîtrisent”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “maîtrise” 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