Which to use
“ministères” and “ministre” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,196
- “ministères” frequency rank
- #434
- “ministre” frequency rank
- 9630
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ministères | ministre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de ministère. | Personne chargée de remplir une fonction pour le compte d’autrui. |
Where the eye mixes ministères and ministre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. ministères runs 10 letters (CVCVCCVCVC) against ministre's 8 (CVCVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: ministères vs ministre
A purely visual mix-up. ministères (\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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9630, 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\. 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 9630, this pair ranks #415,981 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ministères vs ministre
Shared letters: eimnrst. Private to "ministères": è. Private to "ministre": -.
"ministères" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVC · "ministre" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- ministre ← imnistre · miinstre · minisrte · minisstre · ministrre · ministtre · minitsre · minnistre
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ministères" for "ministre" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ministères" vs "ministre" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ministères" 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 #415,981 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ministères" and "ministre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "minister vs ministères". 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 #415,981 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.