Which to use
“ministères” and “ministres” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,196
- “ministères” frequency rank
- #2,433
- “ministres” frequency rank
- 11629
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ministères | ministres |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de ministère. | Pluriel de ministre. |
Where the eye mixes ministères and ministres
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. ministères runs 10 letters (CVCVCCVCVC) against ministres's 9 (CVCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: ministères vs ministres
A purely visual mix-up. ministères (\mi.nis.tɛʁ\) and ministres (\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 11629, 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\. ministres is at rank #2,433, 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 11629, this pair ranks #408,433 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ministères vs ministres
Shared letters: eimnrst. Private to "ministères": è. Private to "ministres": -.
"ministères" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVC · "ministres" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- ministres ← imnistres · miinstres · minisrtes · minisstres · ministers · ministress · ministrres · ministrse
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ministères" for "ministres" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ministères" vs "ministres" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
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 "ministres" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #408,433 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ministères" and "ministres" 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 #408,433 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.