membresvsmêmesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: membres is a noun, mêmes is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“membres” is a noun and “mêmes” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#480
“membres” frequency rank
#571
“mêmes” frequency rank
1051
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature membres mêmes
Definition Pluriel de membre. Pluriel de même.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set membres and mêmes apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
membres
5 ch
mêmes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: membres is \mɑ̃bʁ\ while mêmes is \mɛm\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1051, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

membres is recorded at frequency rank #480, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɑ̃bʁ\. mêmes is at rank #571, tagged as anadj, pronounced \mɛm\.

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 1051, this pair ranks #438,707 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of membres vs mêmes

Shared letters: ems. Private to "membres": br. Private to "mêmes": ê.

"membres" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC  ·  "mêmes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • membresemmbres · mebmres · membbres · membress · membrres · membrse · memmbres · memrbes

Frequency comparison

membres#480
mêmes#571

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "membres" and "mêmes" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "membres" is a noun and "mêmes" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "membres" or "mêmes"?
"membres" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #480 in our French list, against #571 for "mêmes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering membres vs mêmes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “membres”; for an adjective, it's “mêmes”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “membres” 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