Which to use
“mères” and “misères” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,253
- “mères” frequency rank
- #28,253
- “misères” frequency rank
- 32506
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mères | misères |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de mère. | Pluriel de misère. |
Where the eye mixes mères and misères
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. mères runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against misères's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: mères vs misères
A purely visual mix-up. mères (\mɛʁ\) and misères (\mi.zɛʁ\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32506, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mères is recorded at frequency rank #4,253, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɛʁ\. misères is at rank #28,253, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mi.zɛʁ\.
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 32506, this pair ranks #296,811 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mères vs misères
Shared letters: emrsè. Private to "mères": -. Private to "misères": i.
"mères" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "misères" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mères" for "misères" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "mères" or "misères" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "mères" and "misères" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "mères" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "misères" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #296,811 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mères" and "misères" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "misères vs miséreux". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #296,811 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.