mincesvsminimesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#15,939
“minces” frequency rank
#16,185
“minimes” frequency rank
32124
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature minces minimes
Definition Pluriel de mince. Pluriel de minime.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
minces
7 ch
minimes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. minces (\mɛ̃s\) and minimes (\mi.nim\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32124, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

minces is recorded at frequency rank #15,939, classified as anadj, pronounced \mɛ̃s\. minimes is at rank #16,185, tagged as anadj, pronounced \mi.nim\.

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 32124, this pair ranks #299,403 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of minces vs minimes

Shared letters: eimns. Private to "minces": c. Private to "minimes": -.

"minces" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "minimes" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mincesimnces · micnes · mincces · mincess · mincse · minecs · minnces · mminces
  • minimesimnimes · miinmes · miniems · minimess · minimmes · minimse · minmies · minnimes

Frequency comparison

minces#15,939
minimes#16,185

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "minces" and "minimes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\mɛ̃s\ versus \mi.nim\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "minces" or "minimes"?
"minces" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,939 in our French list, against #16,185 for "minimes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering minces vs minimes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “minces” 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