mêlésvsMmesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: mêlés is a adjective, Mmes is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“mêlés” is an adjective and “Mmes” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#24,299
“mêlés” frequency rank
#42,466
“Mmes” frequency rank
66765
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mêlés Mmes
Definition Masculin pluriel de mêlé. Pluriel de Mᵐᵉ.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mêlés and Mmes apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
mêlés
4 ch
Mmes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mêlés is \me.le\ while Mmes is \me.dam\. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66765, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mêlés is recorded at frequency rank #24,299, classified as anadj, pronounced \me.le\. Mmes is at rank #42,466, tagged as anoun, pronounced \me.dam\.

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 66765, this pair ranks #66,344 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of mêlés vs Mmes

Shared letters: ms. Private to "mêlés": léê. Private to "Mmes": e.

"mêlés" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Mmes" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Mmesmems · mmse

Frequency comparison

mêlés#24,299
Mmes#42,466

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mêlés" and "Mmes" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mêlés" is an adjective and "Mmes" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "mêlés" or "Mmes"?
"mêlés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,299 in our French list, against #42,466 for "Mmes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering mêlés vs Mmes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “mêlés”; for a noun, it's “Mmes”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “mêlés” 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