mardisvsmercisWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#25,035
“mardis” frequency rank
#48,043
“mercis” frequency rank
73078
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mardis mercis
Definition Pluriel de mardi. Pluriel de merci.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
mardis
6 ch
mercis

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. mardis (\maʁ.di\) and mercis (\mɛʁ.si\) 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 73078, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mardis is recorded at frequency rank #25,035, classified as anoun, pronounced \maʁ.di\. mercis is at rank #48,043, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɛʁ.si\.

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 73078, this pair ranks #41,702 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of mardis vs mercis

Shared letters: imrs. Private to "mardis": ad. Private to "mercis": ce.

"mardis" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "mercis" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mardisamrdis · madris · marddis · mardiss · mardsi · marids · marrdis · mmardis
  • mercisemrcis · mecris · merccis · merciss · mercsi · merics · merrcis · mmercis

Frequency comparison

mardis#25,035
mercis#48,043

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mardis" and "mercis" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\maʁ.di\ versus \mɛʁ.si\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "mardis" or "mercis"?
"mardis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,035 in our French list, against #48,043 for "mercis". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering mardis vs mercis

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 “mardis” 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