Which to use
“mêlent” is a verb and “mêlés” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,945
- “mêlent” frequency rank
- #24,299
- “mêlés” frequency rank
- 40244
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mêlent | mêlés |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de mêler. | Masculin pluriel de mêlé. |
Where the eye mixes mêlent and mêlés
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. mêlent runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against mêlés's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between mêlent and mêlés
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mêlent is \mɛl\ while mêlés is \me.le\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40244, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mêlent is recorded at frequency rank #15,945, classified as averb, pronounced \mɛl\. mêlés is at rank #24,299, tagged as anadj, pronounced \me.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 40244, this pair ranks #241,942 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mêlent vs mêlés
Shared letters: lmê. Private to "mêlent": ent. Private to "mêlés": sé.
"mêlent" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "mêlés" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mêlent" and "mêlés" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "mêlent" or "mêlés" 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 "mêlent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mêlés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #241,942 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mêlent" and "mêlés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Meier vs mêlés". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #241,942 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.