membrevsmembresWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,034
“membre” frequency rank
#480
“membres” frequency rank
1514
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature membre membres
Definition 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. Pluriel de membre.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set membre and membres apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
membre
7 ch
membres

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. membre and membres are pronounced identically (\mɑ̃bʁ\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “membre” sits inside “membres”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1514, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

membre is recorded at frequency rank #1,034, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɑ̃bʁ\. 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 1514, this pair ranks #437,915 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of membre vs membres

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

"membre" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "membres" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • membreemmbre · mebmre · membbre · membrre · memmbre · memrbe · mmebre · mmembre
  • membresemmbres · mebmres · membbres · membress · membrres · membrse · memmbres · memrbes

Frequency comparison

membre#1,034
membres#480

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "membre" and "membres" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\mɑ̃bʁ\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Which is more common, "membre" or "membres"?
"membres" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #480 in our French list, against #1,034 for "membre". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering membre vs membres

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 “membre” 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