mangervsmélangerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#791
“manger” frequency rank
#9,202
“mélanger” frequency rank
9993
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature manger mélanger
Definition Mâcher et avaler un aliment dans le but de se nourrir. Unir une chose avec une autre, ou plusieurs choses ensemble, de façon qu’elles forment comme un tout.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set manger and mélanger apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
manger
8 ch
mélanger

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. manger (\mɑ̃.ʒe\) and mélanger (\me.lɑ̃.ʒe\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9993, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

manger is recorded at frequency rank #791, classified as averb, pronounced \mɑ̃.ʒe\. mélanger is at rank #9,202, tagged as averb, pronounced \me.lɑ̃.ʒe\.

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 9993, this pair ranks #414,629 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of manger vs mélanger

Shared letters: aegmnr. Private to "manger": -. Private to "mélanger": .

"manger" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "mélanger" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mangeramnger · magner · manegr · mangerr · mangger · mangre · mannger · mmanger

Frequency comparison

manger#791
mélanger#9,202

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "manger" and "mélanger" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\mɑ̃.ʒe\ versus \me.lɑ̃.ʒe\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "manger" or "mélanger"?
"manger" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #791 in our French list, against #9,202 for "mélanger". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering manger vs mélanger

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 “manger” 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