Which to use
“mis” is a verb and “my” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #339
- “mis” frequency rank
- #2,938
- “my” frequency rank
- 3277
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mis | my |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Participe passé masculin de mettre. | Pronom personnel objet de la première personne du singulier : me. |
Where the eye mixes mis and my
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between mis and my
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mis is \mi\ while my is \məi\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3277, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mis is recorded at frequency rank #339, classified as averb, pronounced \mi\. my is at rank #2,938, tagged as apron, pronounced \məi\.
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 3277, this pair ranks #434,416 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mis vs my
Shared letters: m. Private to "mis": is. Private to "my": y.
"mis" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "my" · 2 letters · shape CV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mis" for "my" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "mis" or "my" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "mis" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "my" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #434,416 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mis" and "my" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "MWh vs my". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #434,416 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.