mêléesvsmêlezWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: mêlées is a adjective, mêlez is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“mêlées” is an adjective and “mêlez” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#34,210
“mêlées” frequency rank
#38,936
“mêlez” frequency rank
73146
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mêlées mêlez
Definition Féminin pluriel de mêlé. Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de mêler.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mêlées and mêlez apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
mêlées
5 ch
mêlez

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: mêlées and mêlez carry the same recorded pronunciation, \mɛ.le\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73146, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mêlées is recorded at frequency rank #34,210, classified as anadj, pronounced \mɛ.le\. mêlez is at rank #38,936, tagged as averb, pronounced \mɛ.le\.

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 73146, this pair ranks #41,453 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of mêlées vs mêlez

Shared letters: elmê. Private to "mêlées": . Private to "mêlez": z.

"mêlées" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "mêlez" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Frequency comparison

mêlées#34,210
mêlez#38,936

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mêlées" and "mêlez" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mêlées" is an adjective and "mêlez" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "mêlées" or "mêlez"?
"mêlées" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,210 in our French list, against #38,936 for "mêlez". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering mêlées vs mêlez

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list