Which to use
“ministère” and “ministères” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,035
- “ministère” frequency rank
- #9,196
- “ministères” frequency rank
- 10231
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ministère | ministères |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Emploi ou charge qu’on exerce. | Pluriel de ministère. |
Same sound, different letters: ministère vs ministères
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 9 letters. ministère runs 9 letters (CVCVCCVCV) against ministères's 10 (CVCVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Ear matches; page differs - ministère and ministères
This is the hard kind. ministère and ministères are pronounced identically (\mi.nis.tɛʁ\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “ministère” sits inside “ministères”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10231, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ministère is recorded at frequency rank #1,035, classified as anoun, pronounced \mi.nis.tɛʁ\. ministères is at rank #9,196, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mi.nis.tɛʁ\.
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 10231, this pair ranks #413,746 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ministère vs ministères
Shared letters: eimnrstè. Private to "ministère": -. Private to "ministères": -.
"ministère" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCV · "ministères" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ministère" and "ministères" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "ministère" vs "ministères" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
You've separated the homophone pair "ministère" / "ministères". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "ministère" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ministères" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #413,746 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ministère" and "ministères" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "minister vs ministères". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #413,746 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.