Which to use
“march” and “mercy” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #550
- “march” frequency rank
- #4,691
- “mercy” frequency rank
- 5241
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | march | mercy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A formal, rhythmic way of walking, used especially by soldiers, by bands, and in ceremonies. | Relenting; forbearance to cause or allow harm to another. |
Where the eye mixes march and mercy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. march (/mɑːtʃ/) and mercy (/ˈmɜːsi/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5241, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
march is recorded at frequency rank #550, classified as anoun, pronounced /mɑːtʃ/. mercy is at rank #4,691, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɜːsi/.
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 5241, this pair ranks #516,065 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of march vs mercy
Shared letters: cmr. Private to "march": ah. Private to "mercy": ey.
"march" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "mercy" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV