membrevsmètreWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,034
“membre” frequency rank
#6,113
“mètre” frequency rank
7147
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature membre mètre
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. Unité de mesure de longueur du Système international, dont le symbole est m. Le mètre est défini de manière universelle depuis 1983 par la longueur du trajet parcouru par la lumière dans le vide en 1/299 792 458 de seconde.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set membre and mètre apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
membre
5 ch
mètre

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. membre (\mɑ̃bʁ\) and mètre (\mɛtʁ\) 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 7147, 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\. mètre is at rank #6,113, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɛtʁ\.

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 7147, this pair ranks #424,076 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of membre vs mètre

Shared letters: emr. Private to "membre": b. Private to "mètre": .

"membre" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "mètre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • membreemmbre · mebmre · membbre · membrre · memmbre · memrbe · mmebre · mmembre

Frequency comparison

membre#1,034
mètre#6,113

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "membre" and "mètre" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\mɑ̃bʁ\ versus \mɛtʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "membre" or "mètre"?
"membre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,034 in our French list, against #6,113 for "mètre". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering membre vs mètre

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