monthvsmontsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“month” and “monts” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#45,178
“month” frequency rank
#9,876
“monts” frequency rank
55054
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature month monts
Definition Mois. Pluriel de mont.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
month
5 ch
monts

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. month (\mʌnθ\) and monts (\mɔ̃\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - h in “month” becomes s in “monts”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55054, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

month is recorded at frequency rank #45,178, classified as anoun, pronounced \mʌnθ\. monts is at rank #9,876, tagged as anoun, 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 55054, this pair ranks #129,955 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of month vs monts

Shared letters: mnot. Private to "month": h. Private to "monts": s.

"month" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "monts" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • monthmmonth · mnoth · monht · monnth · monthh · montth · motnh · omnth
  • montsmmonts · mnots · monnts · monst · montss · montts · motns · omnts

Frequency comparison

month#45,178
monts#9,876

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "month" and "monts" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\mʌnθ\ versus \mɔ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "month" or "monts"?
"monts" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,876 in our French list, against #45,178 for "month". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering month vs monts

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “month” 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