mmvsmonConfusable pair

Quick tell: mm is a symbol, mon is a determiner, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“mm” is a symbol and “mon” is a determiner - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,092
“mm” frequency rank
#66
“mon” frequency rank
1158
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mm mon
Definition Symbole du millimètre, unité de mesure de longueur du Système international (SI), valant 0,001 mètre (10⁻³ mètre). Marque la possession ou l’appartenance. Le possesseur est le locuteur, ce qu’il possède est au masculin singulier.

Where the eye mixes mm and mon

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

2 ch
mm
3 ch
mon

Visual trap between mm and mon

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mm is \mi.li.mɛtʁ\ while mon is \mɔ̃\. 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 (symbol vs determiner), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1158, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mm is recorded at frequency rank #1,092, classified as asymbol, pronounced \mi.li.mɛtʁ\. mon is at rank #66, tagged as adet, pronounced \mɔ̃\.

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 1158, this pair ranks #438,526 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mm vs mon

Shared letters: m. Private to "mm": -. Private to "mon": no.

"mm" · 2 letters · shape CC  ·  "mon" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "mm" for "mon" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mm" is a symbol and "mon" a determiner, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "mm" vs "mon" - which ranks higher?
"mon" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #66 in our French list, against #1,092 for "mm". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mm" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mon" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #438,526 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mm" and "mon" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mm vs MWh". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #438,526 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list