mettevsmetteurWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#6,111
“mette” frequency rank
#11,619
“metteur” frequency rank
17730
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mette metteur
Definition Première personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif de mettre. Personne qui met.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mette and metteur apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
mette
7 ch
metteur

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mette is \mɛt\ while metteur is \mɛ.tœʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “mette” sits inside “metteur”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17730, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mette is recorded at frequency rank #6,111, classified as averb, pronounced \mɛt\. metteur is at rank #11,619, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɛ.tœʁ\.

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 17730, this pair ranks #381,752 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mette vs metteur

Shared letters: emt. Private to "mette": -. Private to "metteur": ru.

"mette" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "metteur" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • metteemtte · mete · metet · mmette · mtete
  • metteuremtteur · metetur · meteur · metteru · metteurr · mettuer · mmetteur · mteteur

Frequency comparison

mette#6,111
metteur#11,619

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mette" and "metteur" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mette" is a verb and "metteur" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "mette" or "metteur"?
"mette" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,111 in our French list, against #11,619 for "metteur". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering mette vs metteur

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “mette”; for a noun, it's “metteur”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “mette” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list