Which to use
“mettais” and “mettrai” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,417
- “mettais” frequency rank
- #15,681
- “mettrai” frequency rank
- 32098
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mettais | mettrai |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’imparfait de mettre. | Première personne du singulier du futur de mettre. |
Where the eye mixes mettais and mettrai
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. mettais (CVCCVVC) and mettrai (CVCCCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between mettais and mettrai
A purely visual mix-up. mettais (\mɛ.tɛ\) and mettrai (\mɛ.tʁe\) 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 32098, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mettais is recorded at frequency rank #16,417, classified as averb, pronounced \mɛ.tɛ\. mettrai is at rank #15,681, tagged as averb, pronounced \mɛ.tʁe\.
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 32098, this pair ranks #299,580 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mettais vs mettrai
Shared letters: aeimt. Private to "mettais": s. Private to "mettrai": r.
"mettais" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "mettrai" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mettais" for "mettrai" ever safe?
Which is more common, "mettais" or "mettrai"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "mettais" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mettrai" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #299,580 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mettais" and "mettrai" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mettais vs montais". 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 #299,580 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.