Which to use
“mental” and “mentaux” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,675
- “mental” frequency rank
- #12,811
- “mentaux” frequency rank
- 18486
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mental | mentaux |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui se fait, qui s’exécute dans l’esprit, dans l’entendement. | Masculin pluriel de mental. |
Where the eye mixes mental and mentaux
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. mental runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against mentaux's 7 (CVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between mental and mentaux
A purely visual mix-up. mental (\mɑ̃.tal\) and mentaux (\mɑ̃.to\) 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 18486, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mental is recorded at frequency rank #5,675, classified as anadj, pronounced \mɑ̃.tal\. mentaux is at rank #12,811, tagged as anadj, pronounced \mɑ̃.to\.
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 18486, this pair ranks #378,078 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mental vs mentaux
Shared letters: aemnt. Private to "mental": l. Private to "mentaux": ux.
"mental" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "mentaux" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mental" for "mentaux" ever safe?
Frequency check: "mental" vs "mentaux" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "mental" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mentaux" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #378,078 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mental" and "mentaux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mentant vs mentaux". 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 #378,078 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.