Which to use
“main” and “marlin” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #385
- “main” frequency rank
- #48,032
- “marlin” frequency rank
- 48417
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | main | marlin |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partie du corps humain située au bout du bras, qui s’étend du poignet jusqu’au bout des doigts, qui sert à la préhension et au toucher. | Merlin, sorte de cordage. |
Where the eye mixes main and marlin
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between main and marlin
A purely visual mix-up. main (\mɛ̃\) and marlin (\maʁ.lɛ̃\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48417, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
main is recorded at frequency rank #385, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɛ̃\. marlin is at rank #48,032, tagged as anoun, pronounced \maʁ.lɛ̃\.
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 48417, this pair ranks #179,119 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of main vs marlin
Shared letters: aimn. Private to "main": -. Private to "marlin": lr.
"main" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "marlin" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "main" and "marlin" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "main" vs "marlin" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "main" and "marlin" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "main" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "marlin" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #179,119 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "main" and "marlin" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "marini vs marlin". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #179,119 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.