Which to use
“malgré” is a preposition and “mare” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #556
- “malgré” frequency rank
- #11,992
- “mare” frequency rank
- 12548
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | malgré | mare |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Contre le vouloir de quelqu’un, contre le gré de. | 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 malgré and mare apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: malgré is \mal.ɡʁe\ while mare is \mɑʁ\. 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 (preposition vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12548, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
malgré is recorded at frequency rank #556, classified as aprep, pronounced \mal.ɡʁe\. 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 12548, this pair ranks #404,786 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of malgré vs mare
Shared letters: amr. Private to "malgré": glé. Private to "mare": e.
"malgré" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "mare" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- mare ← marre · mmare · mrae
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "malgré" and "mare" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "malgré" or "mare"?
Remembering malgré vs mare
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a preposition, it's “malgré”; for a noun, it's “mare”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “malgré” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable