manettevsmanettesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#16,940
“manette” frequency rank
#20,783
“manettes” frequency rank
37723
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature manette manettes
Definition Poignée, généralement de métal, qui sert à actionner un mécanisme, un levier, un robinet, une roue… Pluriel de manette.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set manette and manettes apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
manette
8 ch
manettes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. manette and manettes are pronounced identically (\ma.nɛt\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “manette” sits inside “manettes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37723, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

manette is recorded at frequency rank #16,940, classified as anoun, pronounced \ma.nɛt\. manettes is at rank #20,783, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ma.nɛt\.

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 37723, this pair ranks #260,411 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of manette vs manettes

Shared letters: aemnt. Private to "manette": -. Private to "manettes": s.

"manette" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "manettes" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • manetteamnette · maentte · manete · manetet · mannette · mantete · mmanette · mnaette
  • manettesamnettes · maenttes · manetes · manetets · manettess · manettse · mannettes · mantetes

Frequency comparison

manette#16,940
manettes#20,783

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "manette" and "manettes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\ma.nɛt\), 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, "manette" or "manettes"?
"manette" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,940 in our French list, against #20,783 for "manettes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering manette vs manettes

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 “manette” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list