montervsmottesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: monter is a verb, mottes is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“monter” is a verb and “mottes” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,668
“monter” frequency rank
#47,469
“mottes” frequency rank
49137
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature monter mottes
Definition Se déplacer vers le haut, se transporter dans un lieu plus élevé, s’élever, gravir, grimper. Pluriel de motte.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set monter and mottes apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
monter
6 ch
mottes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: monter is \mɔ̃.te\ while mottes is \mɔt\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49137, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

monter is recorded at frequency rank #1,668, classified as averb, pronounced \mɔ̃.te\. mottes is at rank #47,469, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɔt\.

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 49137, this pair ranks #173,163 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of monter vs mottes

Shared letters: emot. Private to "monter": nr. Private to "mottes": s.

"monter" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "mottes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • montermmonter · mnoter · monetr · monnter · montter · motner · omnter
  • mottesmmottes · motes · motets · mottess · mottse · mtotes · omttes

Frequency comparison

monter#1,668
mottes#47,469

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "monter" and "mottes" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "monter" is a verb and "mottes" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "monter" or "mottes"?
"monter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,668 in our French list, against #47,469 for "mottes". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering monter vs mottes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “monter”; for a noun, it's “mottes”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “monter” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list