Which to use
“mare” and “max” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,992
- “mare” frequency rank
- #1,704
- “max” frequency rank
- 13696
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mare | max |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 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. | Maximum. |
Where the eye mixes mare and max
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses mare with max
A purely visual mix-up. mare (\mɑʁ\) and max (\maks\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13696, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mare is recorded at frequency rank #11,992, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɑʁ\. max is at rank #1,704, tagged as anoun, pronounced \maks\.
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 13696, this pair ranks #399,924 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mare vs max
Shared letters: am. Private to "mare": er. Private to "max": x.
"mare" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "max" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- mare ← marre · mmare · mrae
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mare" for "max" ever safe?
Which is more common, "mare" or "max"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "mare" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "max" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #399,924 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mare" and "max" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maid vs mare". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #399,924 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.