Which to use
“mem” and “Mmes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,045
- “mem” frequency rank
- #42,466
- “Mmes” frequency rank
- 78511
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mem | Mmes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Variante de mém. | Pluriel de Mᵐᵉ. |
Where the eye mixes mem and Mmes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. mem runs 3 letters (CVC) against Mmes's 4 (CCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between mem and Mmes
A purely visual mix-up. mem (\mɛm\) and Mmes (\me.dam\) 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 78511, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mem is recorded at frequency rank #36,045, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɛm\. 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 78511, this pair ranks #25,555 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of mem vs Mmes
Shared letters: em. Private to "mem": -. Private to "Mmes": s.
"mem" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "Mmes" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Mmes ← mems · mmse
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mem" for "Mmes" ever safe?
Frequency check: "mem" vs "Mmes" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "mem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Mmes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #25,555 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mem" and "Mmes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Mmes vs muer". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #25,555 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.