Which to use
“mer” is a noun and “mir” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,134
- “mer” frequency rank
- #62
- “mir” frequency rank
- 10196
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mer | mir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | das Meer, die See | Dativ der ersten Person Singular |
Where the eye mixes mer and mir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses mer with mir
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mer is [mεːʀ] while mir is [miːɐ̯]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “mer” becomes i in “mir”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10196, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mer is recorded at frequency rank #10,134, classified as anoun, pronounced [mεːʀ]. mir is at rank #62, tagged as apron, pronounced [miːɐ̯].
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 10196, this pair ranks #1,976,315 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mer vs mir
Shared letters: mr. Private to "mer": e. Private to "mir": i.
"mer" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "mir" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mer" for "mir" ever safe?
Frequency check: "mer" vs "mir" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "mer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,976,315 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mer" and "mir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mer vs mora". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,976,315 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.