mesurevsmesurerWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#520
“mesure” frequency rank
#4,780
“mesurer” frequency rank
5300
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mesure mesurer
Definition Dimension. Chercher à connaître, ou déterminer une quantité par le moyen d’une mesure.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mesure and mesurer apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
mesure
7 ch
mesurer

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mesure is \mə.zyʁ\ while mesurer is \mə.zy.ʁe\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “mesure” sits inside “mesurer”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5300, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mesure is recorded at frequency rank #520, classified as anoun, pronounced \mə.zyʁ\. mesurer is at rank #4,780, tagged as averb, pronounced \mə.zy.ʁe\.

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 5300, this pair ranks #429,407 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mesure vs mesurer

Shared letters: emrsu. Private to "mesure": -. Private to "mesurer": -.

"mesure" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "mesurer" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mesureemsure · mesrue · messure · mesuer · mesurre · meusre · mmesure · mseure
  • mesureremsurer · mesruer · messurer · mesuerr · mesurerr · mesurrer · meusrer · mmesurer

Frequency comparison

mesure#520
mesurer#4,780

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mesure" and "mesurer" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mesure" is a noun and "mesurer" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "mesure" or "mesurer"?
"mesure" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #520 in our French list, against #4,780 for "mesurer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering mesure vs mesurer

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “mesure”; for a verb, it's “mesurer”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “mesure” 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