Which to use
“maîtrise” is a noun and “maîtrisez” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,276
- “maîtrise” frequency rank
- #39,398
- “maîtrisez” frequency rank
- 42674
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maîtrise | maîtrisez |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qualité de maître, en parlant des métiers. | Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de maîtriser. |
Where the eye mixes maîtrise and maîtrisez
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. maîtrise runs 8 letters (CVVCCVCV) against maîtrisez's 9 (CVVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: maîtrise vs maîtrisez
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: maîtrise is \mɛ.tʁiz\ while maîtrisez is \mɛ.tʁi.ze\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “maîtrise” sits inside “maîtrisez”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42674, 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\. maîtrisez is at rank #39,398, tagged as averb, pronounced \mɛ.tʁi.ze\.
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 42674, this pair ranks #223,823 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of maîtrise vs maîtrisez
Shared letters: aeimrstî. Private to "maîtrise": -. Private to "maîtrisez": z.
"maîtrise" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCV · "maîtrisez" · 9 letters · shape CVVCCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "maîtrise" and "maîtrisez" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "maîtrise" or "maîtrisez" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "maîtrise" and "maîtrisez" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "maîtrise" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "maîtrisez" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #223,823 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maîtrise" and "maîtrisez" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maîtrises vs maîtrisez". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #223,823 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.