MottevsmottesWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#17,486
“Motte” frequency rank
#47,469
“mottes” frequency rank
64955
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Motte mottes
Definition Nom de famille Pluriel de motte.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Motte and mottes apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Motte
6 ch
mottes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: Motte and mottes carry the same recorded pronunciation, \mɔt\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is aname, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Motte” sits inside “mottes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64955, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Motte is recorded at frequency rank #17,486, classified as aname, pronounced \mɔt\. 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 64955, this pair ranks #74,555 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Motte vs mottes

Shared letters: emot. Private to "Motte": -. Private to "mottes": s.

"Motte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "mottes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Mottemmotte · mote · motet · mtote · omtte
  • mottesmmottes · motes · motets · mottess · mottse · mtotes · omttes

Frequency comparison

Motte#17,486
mottes#47,469

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Motte" and "mottes" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Motte" is a name and "mottes" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Motte" or "mottes"?
"Motte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,486 in our French list, against #47,469 for "mottes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Motte vs mottes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a name, it's “Motte”; for a noun, it's “mottes”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Motte” 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