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 eye mixes maîtrise and maîtrises
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. maîtrise runs 8 letters (CVVCCVCV) against maîtrises's 9 (CVVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: maîtrise vs maîtrises
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
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "maîtrise" and "maîtrises" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "maîtrise" or "maîtrises" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "maîtrise" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "maîtrises" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #271,450 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maîtrise" and "maîtrises" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maîtrises vs maîtrisez". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #271,450 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.