mervsmerciConfusable pair

Quick tell: mer is a noun, merci is an intj, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“mer” is a noun and “merci” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#19,904
“mer” frequency rank
#38,047
“merci” frequency rank
57951
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mer merci
Definition A repeat unit: a structural unit which through repetition forms a polymer. Thank you.

Letter map: mer vs merci

Shared letters muted; letters that set mer and merci apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

3 ch
mer
5 ch
merci

Grammar separator: mer vs merci

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: mer is anoun and mercianintj. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “mer” sits inside “merci”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57951, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mer is recorded at frequency rank #19,904, classified as anoun. merci is at rank #38,047, tagged as anintj, pronounced /mɛːˈsiː/.

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 57951, this pair ranks #115,836 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of mer vs merci

Shared letters: emr. Private to "mer": -. Private to "merci": ci.

"mer" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "merci" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • merciemrci · mecri · mercci · meric · merrci · mmerci · mreci

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "mer" for "merci" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mer" is a noun and "merci" an intj, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "mer" vs "merci" - which ranks higher?
"mer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,904 in our English list, against #38,047 for "merci". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pair "mer" vs "merci" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "merci" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #115,836 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mer" and "merci" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "merci vs Merv". 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 #115,836 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list