mariagevsmarriageWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#741
“mariage” frequency rank
#33,342
“marriage” frequency rank
34083
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mariage marriage
Definition Union de deux personnes reconnue de façon officielle par la loi ou les règles en vigueur localement, dans le but de s’unir à vie en formant un couple. Mariage (en tant que concept et institution).

Where the eye mixes mariage and marriage

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. mariage runs 7 letters (CVCVVCV) against marriage's 8 (CVCCVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
mariage
8 ch
marriage

Look-alike desk: mariage vs marriage

A purely visual mix-up. mariage (\ma.ʁjaʒ\) and marriage (\ˈmæɹ.ɪd͡ʒ\) 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 34083, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mariage is recorded at frequency rank #741, classified as anoun, pronounced \ma.ʁjaʒ\. marriage is at rank #33,342, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈmæɹ.ɪd͡ʒ\.

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 34083, this pair ranks #286,262 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mariage vs marriage

Shared letters: aegimr. Private to "mariage": -. Private to "marriage": -.

"mariage" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV  ·  "marriage" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mariageamriage · mairage · maraige · mariaeg · mariagge · marigae · mmariage · mraiage
  • marriageamrriage · marirage · marraige · marriaeg · marriagge · marrigae · mmarriage · mrariage

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "mariage" and "marriage" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\ma.ʁjaʒ\ versus \ˈmæɹ.ɪd͡ʒ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "mariage" vs "marriage" - which ranks higher?
"mariage" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #741 in our French list, against #33,342 for "marriage". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mariage" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "marriage" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #286,262 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mariage" and "marriage" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "marécage vs marriage". 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 #286,262 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list