méprisevsméprisentWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: méprise is a noun, méprisent is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“méprise” is a noun and “méprisent” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#12,823
“méprise” frequency rank
#30,713
“méprisent” frequency rank
43536
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature méprise méprisent
Definition Erreur, faute de celui qui se méprend. Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de mépriser.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set méprise and méprisent apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
méprise
9 ch
méprisent

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: méprise and méprisent carry the same recorded pronunciation, \me.pʁiz\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “méprise” sits inside “méprisent”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43536, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

méprise is recorded at frequency rank #12,823, classified as anoun, pronounced \me.pʁiz\. méprisent is at rank #30,713, tagged as averb, pronounced \me.pʁiz\.

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 43536, this pair ranks #217,324 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of méprise vs méprisent

Shared letters: eimprsé. Private to "méprise": -. Private to "méprisent": nt.

"méprise" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "méprisent" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCC

Frequency comparison

méprise#12,823
méprisent#30,713

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "méprise" and "méprisent" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "méprise" is a noun and "méprisent" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "méprise" or "méprisent"?
"méprise" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,823 in our French list, against #30,713 for "méprisent". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering méprise vs méprisent

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “méprise”; for a verb, it's “méprisent”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “méprise” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list