margevsmartenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“marge” and “marten” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#26,155
“marge” frequency rank
#43,775
“marten” frequency rank
69930
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature marge marten
Definition Margin; edge; brink or verge. Any carnivorous mammal of the genus Martes.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set marge and marten apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
marge
6 ch
marten

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. marge (/mɑɹd͡ʒ/) and marten (/ˈmɑː.tɪn/) 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 69930, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

marge is recorded at frequency rank #26,155, classified as anoun, pronounced /mɑɹd͡ʒ/. marten is at rank #43,775, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɑː.tɪn/.

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 69930, this pair ranks #52,577 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of marge vs marten

Shared letters: aemr. Private to "marge": g. Private to "marten": nt.

"marge" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "marten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • margeamrge · magre · mareg · margge · marrge · mmarge · mrage
  • martenamrten · maretn · marrten · martenn · martne · martten · matren · mmarten

Frequency comparison

marge#26,155
marten#43,775

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "marge" and "marten" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/mɑɹd͡ʒ/ versus /ˈmɑː.tɪn/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "marge" or "marten"?
"marge" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,155 in our English list, against #43,775 for "marten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering marge vs marten

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “marge” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list