Which to use
“mer” is a noun and “moe” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,134
- “mer” frequency rank
- #42,005
- “moe” frequency rank
- 52139
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mer | moe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | das Meer, die See | müde |
Where the eye mixes mer and moe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: mer vs moe
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mer is [mεːʀ] while moe is [muː]. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52139, 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]. moe is at rank #42,005, tagged as anadj, pronounced [muː].
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 52139, this pair ranks #1,108,526 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mer vs moe
Shared letters: em. Private to "mer": r. Private to "moe": o.
"mer" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "moe" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mer" for "moe" ever safe?
Which is more common, "mer" or "moe"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "mer" and "moe" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "mer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "moe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,108,526 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mer" and "moe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "moe vs mora". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,108,526 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.