marbrevsmordreWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: marbre is a noun, mordre is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“marbre” is a noun and “mordre” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#6,109
“marbre” frequency rank
#13,429
“mordre” frequency rank
19538
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature marbre mordre
Definition Toute pierre susceptible d'être polie Serrer avec les dents de manière à entamer.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
marbre
6 ch
mordre

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: marbre is \maʁbʁ\ while mordre is \mɔʁdʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19538, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

marbre is recorded at frequency rank #6,109, classified as anoun, pronounced \maʁbʁ\. mordre is at rank #13,429, tagged as averb, pronounced \mɔʁdʁ\.

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 19538, this pair ranks #372,773 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of marbre vs mordre

Shared letters: emr. Private to "marbre": ab. Private to "mordre": do.

"marbre" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "mordre" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • marbreamrbre · mabrre · marbbre · marber · marbrre · marrbe · marrbre · mmarbre
  • mordremmordre · modrre · morddre · morder · mordrre · morrde · morrdre · mrodre

Frequency comparison

marbre#6,109
mordre#13,429

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "marbre" and "mordre" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "marbre" is a noun and "mordre" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "marbre" or "mordre"?
"marbre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,109 in our French list, against #13,429 for "mordre". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering marbre vs mordre

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “marbre”; for a verb, it's “mordre”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “marbre” 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