métrosvsmettesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“métros” and “mettes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#28,261
“métros” frequency rank
#34,626
“mettes” frequency rank
62887
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature métros mettes
Definition Pluriel de métro. Pluriel de mette.

Where the eye mixes métros and mettes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. métros and mettes follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
métros
6 ch
mettes

Visual trap between métros and mettes

A purely visual mix-up. métros (\me.tʁo\) and mettes (\mɛt\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62887, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

métros is recorded at frequency rank #28,261, classified as anoun, pronounced \me.tʁo\. mettes is at rank #34,626, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɛt\.

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 62887, this pair ranks #84,742 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of métros vs mettes

Shared letters: mst. Private to "métros": oré. Private to "mettes": e.

"métros" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "mettes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mettes ← emttes · metes · metets · mettess · mettse · mmettes · mtetes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "métros" for "mettes" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\me.tʁo\ versus \mɛt\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "métros" or "mettes"?
"métros" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,261 in our French list, against #34,626 for "mettes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "métros" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mettes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #84,742 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "métros" and "mettes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mettes 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 #84,742 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list