Which to use
“matelot” is a noun and “matelots” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #27,124
- “matelot” frequency rank
- #33,346
- “matelots” frequency rank
- 60470
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | matelot | matelots |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Celui qui fait partie de l’équipage manœuvrier d’un bâtiment de mer. | Masculin pluriel de matelot. |
Same sound, different letters: matelot vs matelots
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 7 letters. matelot runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against matelots's 8 (CVCVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Homophone desk: matelot vs matelots
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: matelot and matelots carry the same recorded pronunciation, \ma.tlo\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “matelot” sits inside “matelots”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60470, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
matelot is recorded at frequency rank #27,124, classified as anoun, pronounced \ma.tlo\. matelots is at rank #33,346, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ma.tlo\.
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 60470, this pair ranks #97,403 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of matelot vs matelots
Shared letters: aelmot. Private to "matelot": -. Private to "matelots": s.
"matelot" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "matelots" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "matelot" for "matelots" ever safe?
Frequency check: "matelot" vs "matelots" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
"matelot" and "matelots" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "matelot" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "matelots" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #97,403 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "matelot" and "matelots" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mamelons vs matelots". 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 #97,403 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.