Which to use
“mémoires” is a noun and “memories” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,052
- “mémoires” frequency rank
- #32,480
- “memories” frequency rank
- 37532
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mémoires | memories |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Récit écrit qu’une personne fait des événements auxquels elle a participé ou dont elle a été témoin. | Deuxième personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif de memoriar. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mémoires and memories apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mémoires is \me.mwaʁ\ while memories is \mɨ.mu.ɾi.ɨʃ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37532, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mémoires is recorded at frequency rank #5,052, classified as anoun, pronounced \me.mwaʁ\. memories is at rank #32,480, tagged as averb, pronounced \mɨ.mu.ɾi.ɨʃ\.
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 37532, this pair ranks #261,829 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mémoires vs memories
Shared letters: eimors. Private to "mémoires": é. Private to "memories": -.
"mémoires" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC · "memories" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- memories ← emmories · memmories · memoreis · memoriess · memorise · memorries · memroies · meomries
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mémoires" and "memories" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "mémoires" or "memories"?
Remembering mémoires vs memories
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “mémoires”; for a verb, it's “memories”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “mémoires” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable