mettesvsmettezWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#34,626
“mettes” frequency rank
#3,779
“mettez” frequency rank
38405
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mettes mettez
Definition Pluriel de mette. Deuxième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de mettre.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
mettes
6 ch
mettez

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mettes is \mɛt\ while mettez is \mɛ.te\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - s in “mettes” becomes z in “mettez”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38405, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mettes is recorded at frequency rank #34,626, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɛt\. mettez is at rank #3,779, tagged as averb, pronounced \mɛ.te\.

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 38405, this pair ranks #255,473 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mettes vs mettez

Shared letters: emt. Private to "mettes": s. Private to "mettez": z.

"mettes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "mettez" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mettesemttes · metes · metets · mettess · mettse · mmettes · mtetes
  • mettezemttez · metetz · metez · mettezz · mettze · mmettez · mtetez

Frequency comparison

mettes#34,626
mettez#3,779

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mettes" and "mettez" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mettes" is a noun and "mettez" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "mettes" or "mettez"?
"mettez" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,779 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.

Remembering mettes vs mettez

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “mettes”; for a verb, it's “mettez”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “mettes” 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