maigresvsmaresWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: maigres is a adjective, mares is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“maigres” is an adjective and “mares” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#17,476
“maigres” frequency rank
#30,698
“mares” frequency rank
48174
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature maigres mares
Definition Pluriel de maigre. Pluriel de mare.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set maigres and mares apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
maigres
5 ch
mares

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: maigres is \mɛɡʁ\ while mares is \maʁ\. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48174, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

maigres is recorded at frequency rank #17,476, classified as anadj, pronounced \mɛɡʁ\. mares is at rank #30,698, tagged as anoun, pronounced \maʁ\.

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 48174, this pair ranks #181,044 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of maigres vs mares

Shared letters: aemrs. Private to "maigres": gi. Private to "mares": -.

"maigres" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC  ·  "mares" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • maigresamigres · magires · maigers · maiggres · maigress · maigrres · maigrse · mairges
  • maresamres · maers · maress · marres · marse · mmares · mraes

Frequency comparison

maigres#17,476
mares#30,698

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "maigres" and "mares" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "maigres" is an adjective and "mares" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "maigres" or "mares"?
"maigres" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,476 in our French list, against #30,698 for "mares". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering maigres vs mares

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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