mariévsmatriceWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: marié is a adjective, matrice is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“marié” is an adjective and “matrice” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,937
“marié” frequency rank
#10,536
“matrice” frequency rank
14473
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature marié matrice
Definition Qui s’est marié ; qui a un époux ou une épouse. Utérus, organe creux qui, chez les femmes et les femelles des mammifères, contient le produit de la conception jusqu’à la mise au monde.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
marié
7 ch
matrice

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: marié is \ma.ʁje\ while matrice is \ma.tʁis\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14473, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

marié is recorded at frequency rank #3,937, classified as anadj, pronounced \ma.ʁje\. matrice is at rank #10,536, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ma.tʁis\.

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 14473, this pair ranks #396,484 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of marié vs matrice

Shared letters: aimr. Private to "marié": é. Private to "matrice": cet.

"marié" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "matrice" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • matriceamtrice · martice · matirce · matrcie · matricce · matriec · matrrice · mattrice

Frequency comparison

marié#3,937
matrice#10,536

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "marié" and "matrice" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "marié" is an adjective and "matrice" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "marié" or "matrice"?
"marié" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,937 in our French list, against #10,536 for "matrice". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering marié vs matrice

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “marié”; for a noun, it's “matrice”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “marié” 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