Which to use
“mêlent” and “mêlez” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,945
- “mêlent” frequency rank
- #38,936
- “mêlez” frequency rank
- 54881
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mêlent | mêlez |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de mêler. | Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de mêler. |
Where the eye mixes mêlent and mêlez
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. mêlent runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against mêlez's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses mêlent with mêlez
A purely visual mix-up. mêlent (\mɛl\) and mêlez (\mɛ.le\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54881, 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\. 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 54881, this pair ranks #131,057 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mêlent vs mêlez
Shared letters: elmê. Private to "mêlent": nt. Private to "mêlez": z.
"mêlent" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "mêlez" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mêlent" for "mêlez" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "mêlent" or "mêlez" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "mêlent" and "mêlez" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "mêlent" 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 #131,057 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mêlent" and "mêlez" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Meier vs mêlez". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #131,057 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.