Which to use
“ministère” and “ministre” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,035
- “ministère” frequency rank
- #434
- “ministre” frequency rank
- 1469
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ministère | ministre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Emploi ou charge qu’on exerce. | Personne chargée de remplir une fonction pour le compte d’autrui. |
Where the eye mixes ministère and ministre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. ministère runs 9 letters (CVCVCCVCV) against ministre's 8 (CVCVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between ministère and ministre
A purely visual mix-up. ministère (\mi.nis.tɛʁ\) and ministre (\mi.nistʁ\) 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 1469, 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\. ministre is at rank #434, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mi.nistʁ\.
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 1469, this pair ranks #438,014 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ministère vs ministre
Shared letters: eimnrst. Private to "ministère": è. Private to "ministre": -.
"ministère" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCV · "ministre" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- ministre ← imnistre · miinstre · minisrte · minisstre · ministrre · ministtre · minitsre · minnistre
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ministère" for "ministre" ever safe?
Which is more common, "ministère" or "ministre"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ministère" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ministre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #438,014 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ministère" and "ministre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "minister vs ministère". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #438,014 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.