Which to use
“moi” is a pronoun and “mou” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #73
- “moi” frequency rank
- #8,739
- “mou” frequency rank
- 8812
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | moi | mou |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pronom tonique de la première personne du singulier. | Qui cède facilement au toucher, qui reçoit facilement l’impression des autres corps. |
Where the eye mixes moi and mou
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between moi and mou
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: moi is \mwa\ while mou is \mu\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - i in “moi” becomes u in “mou”, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8812, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
moi is recorded at frequency rank #73, classified as apron, pronounced \mwa\. mou is at rank #8,739, tagged as anadj, pronounced \mu\.
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 8812, this pair ranks #418,761 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of moi vs mou
Shared letters: mo. Private to "moi": i. Private to "mou": u.
"moi" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "mou" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "moi" and "mou" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "moi" vs "mou" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "moi" and "mou" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "moi" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mou" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #418,761 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "moi" and "mou" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mou vs MWh". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #418,761 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.