mahévsmareWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: mahé is a postp, mare is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“mahé” is a postp and “mare” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#44,035
“mahé” frequency rank
#11,992
“mare” frequency rank
56027
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mahé mare
Definition Dans, dedans. Petit amas d’eau dormante qui se forme naturellement par l’abaissement du sol, ou qu’on produit artificiellement dans les villages et dans les fermes, pour des usages communs ou domestiques.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mahé and mare apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
mahé
4 ch
mare

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mahé is \ma.ˈhe\ while mare is \mɑʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (postp vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56027, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mahé is recorded at frequency rank #44,035, classified as apostp, pronounced \ma.ˈhe\. mare is at rank #11,992, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɑʁ\.

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 56027, this pair ranks #123,695 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mahé vs mare

Shared letters: am. Private to "mahé": . Private to "mare": er.

"mahé" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "mare" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • maremarre · mmare · mrae

Frequency comparison

mahé#44,035
mare#11,992

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mahé" and "mare" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mahé" is a postp and "mare" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "mahé" or "mare"?
"mare" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,992 in our French list, against #44,035 for "mahé". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering mahé vs mare

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a postp, it's “mahé”; for a noun, it's “mare”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “mahé” 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