maltraitervsmaltraitésWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#34,609
“maltraiter” frequency rank
#33,340
“maltraités” frequency rank
67949
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature maltraiter maltraités
Definition Traiter durement en actions ou en paroles, malmener, frapper. Participe passé masculin pluriel de maltraiter.

Where the spellings diverge

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

10 ch
maltraiter
10 ch
maltraités

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. maltraiter and maltraités are pronounced identically (\mal.tʁe.te\) and both work as averb. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67949, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

maltraiter is recorded at frequency rank #34,609, classified as averb, pronounced \mal.tʁe.te\. maltraités is at rank #33,340, tagged as averb, pronounced \mal.tʁe.te\.

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 67949, this pair ranks #61,279 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of maltraiter vs maltraités

Shared letters: ailmrt. Private to "maltraiter": e. Private to "maltraités": .

"maltraiter" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVVCVC  ·  "maltraités" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • maltraiteramltraiter · malltraiter · malrtaiter · maltariter · maltraietr · maltraiterr · maltraitre · maltraitter

Frequency comparison

maltraiter#34,609
maltraités#33,340

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "maltraiter" and "maltraités" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\mal.tʁe.te\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Which is more common, "maltraiter" or "maltraités"?
"maltraités" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,340 in our French list, against #34,609 for "maltraiter". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering maltraiter vs maltraités

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 “maltraiter” 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