Which to use
“membranes” and “membres” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #30,704
- “membranes” frequency rank
- #480
- “membres” frequency rank
- 31184
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | membranes | membres |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de membrane. | Pluriel de membre. |
Where the eye mixes membranes and membres
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. membranes runs 9 letters (CVCCCVCVC) against membres's 7 (CVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses membranes with membres
A purely visual mix-up. membranes (\mɑ̃.bʁan\) and membres (\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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31184, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
membranes is recorded at frequency rank #30,704, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɑ̃.bʁan\. membres is at rank #480, 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 31184, this pair ranks #305,454 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of membranes vs membres
Shared letters: bemrs. Private to "membranes": an. Private to "membres": -.
"membranes" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC · "membres" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "membranes" and "membres" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "membranes" vs "membres" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "membranes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "membres" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #305,454 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "membranes" and "membres" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "membres vs meublés". 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 #305,454 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.