Which to use
“mètre” is a noun and “mettre” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,113
- “mètre” frequency rank
- #227
- “mettre” frequency rank
- 6340
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mètre | mettre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Unité de mesure de longueur du Système international, dont le symbole est m. Le mètre est défini de manière universelle depuis 1983 par la longueur du trajet parcouru par la lumière dans le vide en 1/299 792 458 de seconde. | Placer une personne, ou un animal, ou une chose dans un lieu déterminé. |
Same sound, different letters: mètre vs mettre
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 4 letters. mètre 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.
Ear matches; page differs - mètre and mettre
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: mètre and mettre carry the same recorded pronunciation, \mɛtʁ\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6340, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mètre is recorded at frequency rank #6,113, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɛtʁ\. 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 6340, this pair ranks #426,511 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mètre vs mettre
Shared letters: emrt. Private to "mètre": è. Private to "mettre": -.
"mètre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "mettre" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- mettre ← emttre · metre · metrte · metter · mettrre · mmettre · mtetre
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mètre" for "mettre" ever safe?
Which is more common, "mètre" or "mettre"?
Useful next steps
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "mètre" 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 #426,511 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mètre" and "mettre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Méry vs mètre". 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 #426,511 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.