mardevsmariezWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#36,043
“marde” frequency rank
#44,040
“mariez” frequency rank
80083
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature marde mariez
Definition Merde. Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de marier.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
marde
6 ch
mariez

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: marde is \maʁd\ while mariez is \ma.ʁje\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80083, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

marde is recorded at frequency rank #36,043, classified as anoun, pronounced \maʁd\. mariez is at rank #44,040, tagged as averb, 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 80083, this pair ranks #21,768 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of marde vs mariez

Shared letters: aemr. Private to "marde": d. Private to "mariez": iz.

"marde" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "mariez" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mardeamrde · mardde · mared · marrde · mmarde · mrade
  • mariezamriez · mairez · mareiz · mariezz · marize · marriez · mmariez · mraiez

Frequency comparison

marde#36,043
mariez#44,040

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "marde" and "mariez" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "marde" is a noun and "mariez" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "marde" or "mariez"?
"marde" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,043 in our French list, against #44,040 for "mariez". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering marde vs mariez

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “marde”; for a verb, it's “mariez”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “marde” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list