Which to use
“mel” is a noun and “mon” is a determiner - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,425
- “mel” frequency rank
- #66
- “mon” frequency rank
- 13491
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mel | mon |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Marque la possession ou l’appartenance. Le possesseur est le locuteur, ce qu’il possède est au masculin singulier. |
Where the eye mixes mel and mon
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses mel with mon
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mel is \mɛl\ while mon is \mɔ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs determiner), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13491, 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\. mon is at rank #66, tagged as adet, pronounced \mɔ̃\.
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 13491, this pair ranks #400,812 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mel vs mon
Shared letters: m. Private to "mel": el. Private to "mon": no.
"mel" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "mon" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mel" for "mon" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "mel" or "mon" show up more?
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 "mon" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #400,812 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mel" and "mon" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mel vs MWh". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #400,812 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.