commercesvscommèreWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“commerces” and “commère” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#5,435
“commerces” frequency rank
#46,075
“commère” frequency rank
51510
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature commerces commère
Definition Pluriel de commerce. Personne qui est la marraine d’un même enfant, du point de vue du parrain, du père et de mère de l’enfant.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set commerces and commère apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
commerces
7 ch
commère

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. commerces (\kɔ.mɛʁs\) and commère (\kɔ.mɛʁ\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51510, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

commerces is recorded at frequency rank #5,435, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔ.mɛʁs\. commère is at rank #46,075, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔ.mɛʁ\.

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 51510, this pair ranks #154,473 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of commerces vs commère

Shared letters: cemor. Private to "commerces": s. Private to "commère": è.

"commerces" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "commère" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • commercesccommerces · cmomerces · comemrces · comerces · commecres · commercces · commercess · commercse

Frequency comparison

commerces#5,435
commère#46,075

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "commerces" and "commère" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kɔ.mɛʁs\ versus \kɔ.mɛʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "commerces" or "commère"?
"commerces" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,435 in our French list, against #46,075 for "commère". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering commerces vs commère

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 “commerces” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list