Which to use
“mente” and “mettre” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,068
- “mente” frequency rank
- #227
- “mettre” frequency rank
- 32295
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mente | mettre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif de mentir. | Placer une personne, ou un animal, ou une chose dans un lieu déterminé. |
Where the eye mixes mente and mettre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. mente runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against mettre's 6 (CVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between mente and mettre
A purely visual mix-up. mente (\mɑ̃t\) and mettre (\mɛtʁ\) 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 32295, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mente is recorded at frequency rank #32,068, classified as averb, pronounced \mɑ̃t\. mettre is at rank #227, tagged as averb, pronounced \mɛtʁ\.
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 32295, this pair ranks #298,178 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mente vs mettre
Shared letters: emt. Private to "mente": n. Private to "mettre": r.
"mente" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "mettre" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mente" and "mettre" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "mente" or "mettre" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "mente" and "mettre" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "mente" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mettre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #298,178 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mente" and "mettre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mente vs meutre". 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 #298,178 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.