Which to use
“mètres” and “mottes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,068
- “mètres” frequency rank
- #47,469
- “mottes” frequency rank
- 48537
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mètres | mottes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de mètre. | Pluriel de motte. |
Where the eye mixes mètres and mottes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. mètres and mottes follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between mètres and mottes
A purely visual mix-up. mètres (\mɛtʁ\) and mottes (\mɔt\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48537, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mètres is recorded at frequency rank #1,068, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɛtʁ\. mottes is at rank #47,469, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɔt\.
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 48537, this pair ranks #178,133 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mètres vs mottes
Shared letters: emst. Private to "mètres": rè. Private to "mottes": o.
"mètres" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "mottes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- mottes ← mmottes · motes · motets · mottess · mottse · mtotes · omttes
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mètres" for "mottes" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "mètres" or "mottes" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "mètres" and "mottes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "mètres" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mottes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #178,133 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mètres" and "mottes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mottes vs muettes". 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 #178,133 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.