Which to use
“mer” and “mort” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,134
- “mer” frequency rank
- #38,299
- “mort” frequency rank
- 48433
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mer | mort |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | das Meer, die See | der Tod |
Where the eye mixes mer and mort
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between mer and mort
A purely visual mix-up. mer ([mεːʀ]) and mort ([mɔʁ]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48433, 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]. mort is at rank #38,299, tagged as anoun, pronounced [mɔʁ].
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 48433, this pair ranks #1,248,772 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mer vs mort
Shared letters: mr. Private to "mer": e. Private to "mort": ot.
"mer" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "mort" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- mort ← mmort · morrt · mortt · motr · mrot · omrt
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mer" and "mort" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "mer" or "mort" show up more?
What to do next
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 "mort" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,248,772 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mer" and "mort" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mora vs mort". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #1,248,772 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.