mahévsMartheWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#44,035
“mahé” frequency rank
#17,187
“Marthe” frequency rank
61222
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mahé Marthe
Definition Dans, dedans. Sainte mentionnée dans le Nouveau Testament, sœur de Lazare et de Marie de Béthanie.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mahé and Marthe apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
mahé
6 ch
Marthe

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mahé is \ma.ˈhe\ while Marthe is \maʁt\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (postp vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61222, 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\. Marthe is at rank #17,187, tagged as aname, pronounced \maʁt\.

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 61222, this pair ranks #93,434 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of mahé vs Marthe

Shared letters: ahm. Private to "mahé": é. Private to "Marthe": ert.

"mahé" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "Marthe" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Martheamrthe · marhte · marrthe · marteh · marthhe · martthe · matrhe · mmarthe

Frequency comparison

mahé#44,035
Marthe#17,187

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mahé" and "Marthe" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mahé" is a postp and "Marthe" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "mahé" or "Marthe"?
"Marthe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,187 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 Marthe

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a postp, it's “mahé”; for a name, it's “Marthe”.
  • 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