maîtrisevsmaîtrisesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#3,276
“maîtrise” frequency rank
#32,905
“maîtrises” frequency rank
36181
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature maîtrise maîtrises
Definition Qualité de maître, en parlant des métiers. Pluriel de maîtrise.

Where the spellings diverge

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

8 ch
maîtrise
9 ch
maîtrises

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. maîtrise (\mɛ.tʁiz\) and maîtrises (\me.tʁiz\) 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 extra letter(s) - “maîtrise” sits inside “maîtrises”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36181, 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\. maîtrises is at rank #32,905, tagged as anoun, pronounced \me.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 36181, this pair ranks #271,450 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of maîtrise vs maîtrises

Shared letters: aeimrstî. Private to "maîtrise": -. Private to "maîtrises": -.

"maîtrise" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCV  ·  "maîtrises" · 9 letters · shape CVVCCVCVC

Frequency comparison

maîtrise#3,276
maîtrises#32,905

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "maîtrise" and "maîtrises" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\mɛ.tʁiz\ versus \me.tʁiz\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "maîtrise" or "maîtrises"?
"maîtrise" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,276 in our French list, against #32,905 for "maîtrises". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering maîtrise vs maîtrises

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 “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