Which to use
“mêlez” and “menés” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,936
- “mêlez” frequency rank
- #10,358
- “menés” frequency rank
- 49294
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mêlez | menés |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de mêler. | Participe passé masculin pluriel de mener. |
Where the eye mixes mêlez and menés
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. mêlez and menés follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses mêlez with menés
A purely visual mix-up. mêlez (\mɛ.le\) and menés (\mə.ne\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49294, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mêlez is recorded at frequency rank #38,936, classified as averb, pronounced \mɛ.le\. menés is at rank #10,358, tagged as averb, pronounced \mə.ne\.
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 49294, this pair ranks #171,863 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mêlez vs menés
Shared letters: em. Private to "mêlez": lzê. Private to "menés": nsé.
"mêlez" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "menés" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mêlez" and "menés" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "mêlez" or "menés"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "mêlez" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "menés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #171,863 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mêlez" and "menés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Meier vs mêlez". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #171,863 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.