Which to use
“moins” is an adverb and “mois” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #118
- “moins” frequency rank
- #184
- “mois” frequency rank
- 302
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | moins | mois |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Comparatif de peu. Servant à marquer l’infériorité d’une personne ou d’une chose, comparée à une autre ou à elle-même sous quelque rapport de qualité, de quantité, d’action, etc. | Chacune des douze parties de l’année, dont chacune contient trente ou trente et un jours, excepté la seconde (février), qui est de vingt-huit jours dans les années ordinaires, et de vingt-neuf dans les années bissextiles. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set moins and mois apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
moins and mois form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 302, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
moins is recorded at frequency rank #118, classified as anadv, pronounced \mwɛ̃\. mois is at rank #184, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mwa\.
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 302, this pair ranks #439,854 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "moins" and "mois" be used interchangeably?
Remembering moins vs mois
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “moins”; for a noun, it's “mois”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “moins” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable