Which to use
“mel” is a noun and “mes” is a determiner - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,425
- “mel” frequency rank
- #139
- “mes” frequency rank
- 13564
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mel | mes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Unité de mesure de hauteur tonale (ou tonie), en acoustique. Par définition, un son d’une fréquence de 1 kilohertz et d’une intensité de 40 décibels au-dessus du seuil d’audition a une hauteur de 1000 mels. | Pluriel de mon, ma. Qui sont à moi, dans le cas d’un seul possesseur et de plusieurs objets. |
Where the eye mixes mel and mes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between mel and mes
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mel is \mɛl\ while mes is \mɛ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - l in “mel” becomes s in “mes”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs determiner), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13564, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mel is recorded at frequency rank #13,425, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɛl\. mes is at rank #139, tagged as adet, pronounced \mɛ\.
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 13564, this pair ranks #400,485 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mel vs mes
Shared letters: em. Private to "mel": l. Private to "mes": s.
"mel" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "mes" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mel" and "mes" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "mel" vs "mes" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "mel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #400,485 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mel" and "mes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mel vs MWh". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #400,485 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.