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. |
Same sound, different letters: mêlées vs mêlez
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 4 letters. mêlées runs 6 letters (CVCVVC) against mêlez's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Ear matches; page differs - mêlées and mêlez
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": sé. Private to "mêlez": z.
"mêlées" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "mêlez" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mêlées" and "mêlez" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "mêlées" or "mêlez" show up more?
After this comparison
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "mêlées" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mêlez" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #41,453 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mêlées" and "mêlez" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Meier vs mêlez". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #41,453 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.