magretvsmairesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#49,201
“magret” frequency rank
#5,362
“maires” frequency rank
54563
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature magret maires
Definition Filet de viande maigre découpé à partir de la poitrine d’une oie ou d’un canard gras. Pluriel de maire.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
magret
6 ch
maires

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. magret (\ma.ɡʁɛ\) and maires (\mɛʁ\) 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 54563, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

magret is recorded at frequency rank #49,201, classified as anoun, pronounced \ma.ɡʁɛ\. maires is at rank #5,362, tagged as anoun, pronounced \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 54563, this pair ranks #133,179 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of magret vs maires

Shared letters: aemr. Private to "magret": gt. Private to "maires": is.

"magret" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "maires" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • magretamgret · magert · maggret · magrett · magrret · magrte · marget · mgaret
  • mairesamires · maiers · mairess · mairres · mairse · maries · miares · mmaires

Frequency comparison

magret#49,201
maires#5,362

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "magret" and "maires" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ma.ɡʁɛ\ versus \mɛʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "magret" or "maires"?
"maires" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,362 in our French list, against #49,201 for "magret". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering magret vs maires

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 “magret” 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