mervsMrTell them apart

Which to use

“mer” and “Mr” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#10,134
“mer” frequency rank
#3,332
“Mr” frequency rank
13466
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mer Mr
Definition das Meer, die See Anrede eines Mannes ohne Titel, gefolgt von seinem Namen

Where the eye mixes mer and Mr

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
mer
2 ch
Mr

Look-alike desk: mer vs Mr

A purely visual mix-up. mer ([mεːʀ]) and Mr ([mɪstə(r)]) 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 13466, 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]. Mr is at rank #3,332, tagged as anoun, pronounced [mɪstə(r)].

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 13466, this pair ranks #1,957,806 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mer vs Mr

Shared letters: mr. Private to "mer": e. Private to "Mr": -.

"mer" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "Mr" · 2 letters · shape CC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "mer" for "Mr" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([mεːʀ] versus [mɪstə(r)]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "mer" or "Mr"?
"Mr" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,332 in our German list, against #10,134 for "mer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Mr" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,957,806 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mer" and "Mr" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mer vs mora". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,957,806 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list