maigresvsmargesWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#17,476
“maigres” frequency rank
#10,355
“marges” frequency rank
27831
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature maigres marges
Definition Pluriel de maigre. Pluriel de marge.

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
maigres
6 ch
marges

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: maigres is \mɛɡʁ\ while marges is \maʁʒ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 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 27831, 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\. marges is at rank #10,355, tagged as anoun, pronounced \maʁʒ\.

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 27831, this pair ranks #326,510 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of maigres vs marges

Shared letters: aegmrs. Private to "maigres": i. Private to "marges": -.

"maigres" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC  ·  "marges" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • maigresamigres · magires · maigers · maiggres · maigress · maigrres · maigrse · mairges
  • margesamrges · magres · maregs · margess · margges · margse · marrges · mmarges

Frequency comparison

maigres#17,476
marges#10,355

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "maigres" and "marges" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "maigres" is an adjective and "marges" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "maigres" or "marges"?
"marges" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,355 in our French list, against #17,476 for "maigres". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering maigres vs marges

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 “marges”.
  • 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