mensongevsmensongesConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#4,003
“mensonge” frequency rank
#5,583
“mensonges” frequency rank
9586
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mensonge mensonges
Definition Propos contraire à la vérité, tenu avec dessein de tromper. Pluriel de mensonge.

Same sound, different letters: mensonge vs mensonges

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 8 letters. mensonge runs 8 letters (CVCCVCCV) against mensonges's 9 (CVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
mensonge
9 ch
mensonges

Ear matches; page differs - mensonge and mensonges

This is the hard kind. mensonge and mensonges are pronounced identically (\mɑ̃.sɔ̃ʒ\) 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) - “mensonge” sits inside “mensonges”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9586, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mensonge is recorded at frequency rank #4,003, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɑ̃.sɔ̃ʒ\. mensonges is at rank #5,583, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɑ̃.sɔ̃ʒ\.

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 9586, this pair ranks #416,127 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mensonge vs mensonges

Shared letters: egmnos. Private to "mensonge": -. Private to "mensonges": -.

"mensonge" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV  ·  "mensonges" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mensonge ← emnsonge · mennsonge · menosnge · mensnoge · mensogne · mensoneg · mensongge · mensonnge
  • mensonges ← emnsonges · mennsonges · menosnges · mensnoges · mensognes · mensonegs · mensongess · mensongges

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "mensonge" for "mensonges" ever safe?
No. They are pronounced the same (\mɑ̃.sɔ̃ʒ\), 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, "mensonge" or "mensonges"?
"mensonge" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,003 in our French list, against #5,583 for "mensonges". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've separated the homophone pair "mensonge" / "mensonges". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mensonge" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mensonges" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #416,127 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mensonge" and "mensonges" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mensongers vs mensonges". 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 #416,127 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list