membersvsmembreWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“members” and “membre” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#45,731
“members” frequency rank
#1,034
“membre” frequency rank
46765
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature members membre
Definition Pluriel de member. Partie extérieure du corps d’un être humain ou d’un animal, distinguée de toutes les autres par quelque fonction particulière. Note d’usage : Se dit principalement des bras et des jambes ; ne se dit jamais de la tête.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set members and membre apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
members
6 ch
membre

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. members (\ˈmɛm.bɚz\) and membre (\mɑ̃bʁ\) 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 46765, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

members is recorded at frequency rank #45,731, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈmɛm.bɚz\. membre is at rank #1,034, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɑ̃bʁ\.

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 46765, this pair ranks #192,270 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of members vs membre

Shared letters: bemr. Private to "members": s. Private to "membre": -.

"members" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "membre" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • membersemmbers · mebmers · membbers · memberrs · memberss · membesr · memebrs · memmbers
  • membreemmbre · mebmre · membbre · membrre · memmbre · memrbe · mmebre · mmembre

Frequency comparison

members#45,731
membre#1,034

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "members" and "membre" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ˈmɛm.bɚz\ versus \mɑ̃bʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "members" or "membre"?
"membre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,034 in our French list, against #45,731 for "members". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering members vs membre

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “members” 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