mèches vs mêmes, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“mèches” is a noun and “mêmes” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#20,508
“mèches” frequency rank: #571
“mêmes” frequency rank: 21079
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	mèches	mêmes
Definition	Pluriel de mèche.	Pluriel de même.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mèches and mêmes apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

mèches

5 ch

mêmes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mèches is \mɛʃ\ while mêmes is \mɛm\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21079, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mèches is recorded at frequency rank #20,508, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɛʃ\. mêmes is at rank #571, tagged as anadj, pronounced \mɛm\.

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 21079, this pair ranks #364,971 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mèches vs mêmes

Shared letters: ems. Private to "mèches": chè. Private to "mêmes": ê.

"mèches" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "mêmes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Frequency comparison

mèches#20,508

mêmes#571

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mèches" and "mêmes" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mèches" is a noun and "mêmes" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "mèches" or "mêmes"?

"mêmes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #571 in our French list, against #20,508 for "mèches". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering mèches vs mêmes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “mèches”; for an adjective, it's “mêmes”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “mèches” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable