manevsmareWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#47,441
“mane” frequency rank
#11,992
“mare” frequency rank
59433
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mane mare
Definition Crinière. 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 mane and mare apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
mane
4 ch
mare

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. mane (\meɪn\) and mare (\mɑʁ\) 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 a single letter - n in “mane” becomes r in “mare”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59433, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mane is recorded at frequency rank #47,441, classified as anoun, pronounced \meɪn\. 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 59433, this pair ranks #103,168 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of mane vs mare

Shared letters: aem. Private to "mane": n. Private to "mare": r.

"mane" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "mare" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • manemmane · mnae
  • maremarre · mmare · mrae

Frequency comparison

mane#47,441
mare#11,992

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mane" and "mare" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\meɪn\ versus \mɑʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "mane" or "mare"?
"mare" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,992 in our French list, against #47,441 for "mane". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering mane vs mare

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 “mane” 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