mettevsmuettesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: mette is a verb, muettes is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#6,111
“mette” frequency rank
#48,672
“muettes” frequency rank
54783
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mette muettes
Definition Première personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif de mettre. Féminin pluriel de muet.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
mette
7 ch
muettes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mette is \mɛt\ while muettes is \mɥɛt\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54783, 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\. muettes is at rank #48,672, tagged as anadj, pronounced \mɥɛt\.

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 54783, this pair ranks #131,702 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mette vs muettes

Shared letters: emt. Private to "mette": -. Private to "muettes": su.

"mette" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "muettes" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • metteemtte · mete · metet · mmette · mtete
  • muettesmeuttes · mmuettes · muetes · muetets · muettess · muettse · mutetes · umettes

Frequency comparison

mette#6,111
muettes#48,672

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mette" and "muettes" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mette" is a verb and "muettes" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "mette" or "muettes"?
"mette" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,111 in our French list, against #48,672 for "muettes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering mette vs muettes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “mette”; for an adjective, it's “muettes”.
  • 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