Which to use
“mêmes” is an adjective and “modes” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #571
- “mêmes” frequency rank
- #4,588
- “modes” frequency rank
- 5159
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mêmes | modes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de même. | Ensemble de parure que l’on rajoute à un vêtement, dentelles, plumes, etc. colifichet. Autrefois, l‘apanage des modistes. |
Where the eye mixes mêmes and modes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: mêmes vs modes
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mêmes is \mɛm\ while modes is \mɔd\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5159, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mêmes is recorded at frequency rank #571, classified as anadj, pronounced \mɛm\. modes is at rank #4,588, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɔd\.
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 5159, this pair ranks #429,743 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mêmes vs modes
Shared letters: ems. Private to "mêmes": ê. Private to "modes": do.
"mêmes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "modes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- modes ← mdoes · mmodes · moddes · modess · modse · moeds · omdes
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mêmes" for "modes" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "mêmes" or "modes" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "mêmes" and "modes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "mêmes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "modes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #429,743 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mêmes" and "modes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "modes vs moqués". 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 #429,743 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.