Which to use
“ministères” is a noun and “ministériels” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,196
- “ministères” frequency rank
- #22,943
- “ministériels” frequency rank
- 32139
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ministères | ministériels |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de ministère. | Masculin pluriel de ministériel. |
Where the eye mixes ministères and ministériels
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. ministères runs 10 letters (CVCVCCVCVC) against ministériels's 12 (CVCVCCVCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses ministères with ministériels
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ministères is \mi.nis.tɛʁ\ while ministériels is \mi.nis.te.ʁjɛl\. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32139, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ministères is recorded at frequency rank #9,196, classified as anoun, pronounced \mi.nis.tɛʁ\. ministériels is at rank #22,943, tagged as anadj, pronounced \mi.nis.te.ʁjɛl\.
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 32139, this pair ranks #299,277 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ministères vs ministériels
Shared letters: eimnrst. Private to "ministères": è. Private to "ministériels": lé.
"ministères" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVC · "ministériels" · 12 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ministères" for "ministériels" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ministères" vs "ministériels" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "ministères" and "ministériels" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ministères" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ministériels" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #299,277 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ministères" and "ministériels" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ministérielles vs ministériels". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #299,277 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.