Which to use
“mate” and “Mère” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,837
- “mate” frequency rank
- #292
- “Mère” frequency rank
- 14129
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mate | Mère |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Endroit, dans Paris, où se tenait le conseil de filous. | Nom donné à la Vierge Marie. |
Where the eye mixes mate and Mère
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between mate and Mère
A purely visual mix-up. mate (\mat\) and Mère (\mɛʁ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14129, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mate is recorded at frequency rank #13,837, classified as anoun, pronounced \mat\. Mère is at rank #292, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɛʁ\.
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 14129, this pair ranks #398,064 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mate vs Mère
Shared letters: em. Private to "mate": at. Private to "Mère": rè.
"mate" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "Mère" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- mate ← amte · maet · matte · mmate · mtae
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mate" and "Mère" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "mate" vs "Mère" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "mate" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Mère" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #398,064 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mate" and "Mère" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mate vs mito". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #398,064 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.