malinevsmariéeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“maline” and “mariée” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#46,280
“maline” frequency rank
#4,162
“mariée” frequency rank
50442
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature maline mariée
Definition Grandes marées qui ont lieu à la nouvelle et à la pleine lune, et dont les plus considérables arrivent aux équinoxes. On l’emploie surtout au pluriel. Femme qui se marie ou qui s’est mariée le jour même.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set maline and mariée apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
maline
6 ch
mariée

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. maline (\ma.lin\) and mariée (\ma.ʁje\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50442, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

maline is recorded at frequency rank #46,280, classified as anoun, pronounced \ma.lin\. mariée is at rank #4,162, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ma.ʁje\.

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 50442, this pair ranks #162,605 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of maline vs mariée

Shared letters: aeim. Private to "maline": ln. Private to "mariée": .

"maline" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "mariée" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • malineamline · mailne · malinne · malline · malnie · mlaine · mmaline

Frequency comparison

maline#46,280
mariée#4,162

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "maline" and "mariée" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ma.lin\ versus \ma.ʁje\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "maline" or "mariée"?
"mariée" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,162 in our French list, against #46,280 for "maline". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering maline vs mariée

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “maline” 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