Which to use
“mèches” and “mettes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,508
- “mèches” frequency rank
- #34,626
- “mettes” frequency rank
- 55134
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mèches | mettes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de mèche. | Pluriel de mette. |
Where the eye mixes mèches and mettes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. mèches and mettes follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses mèches with mettes
A purely visual mix-up. mèches (\mɛʃ\) and mettes (\mɛt\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55134, 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\. mettes is at rank #34,626, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɛt\.
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 55134, this pair ranks #129,469 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mèches vs mettes
Shared letters: ems. Private to "mèches": chè. Private to "mettes": t.
"mèches" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "mettes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- mettes ← emttes · metes · metets · mettess · mettse · mmettes · mtetes
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mèches" and "mettes" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "mèches" or "mettes"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "mèches" and "mettes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "mèches" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mettes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #129,469 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mèches" and "mettes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mettes vs muettes". 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 #129,469 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.