Which to use
“mare” and “murs” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,992
- “mare” frequency rank
- #2,288
- “murs” frequency rank
- 14280
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mare | murs |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Pluriel de mur. |
Where the eye mixes mare and murs
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. mare (CVCV) and murs (CVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses mare with murs
A purely visual mix-up. mare (\mɑʁ\) and murs (\myʁ\) 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 14280, 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\. murs is at rank #2,288, tagged as anoun, pronounced \myʁ\.
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 14280, this pair ranks #397,374 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mare vs murs
Shared letters: mr. Private to "mare": ae. Private to "murs": su.
"mare" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "murs" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mare" and "murs" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "mare" vs "murs" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
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 "murs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #397,374 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mare" and "murs" 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 #397,374 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.