mariévsmériteWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#3,937
“marié” frequency rank
#1,395
“mérite” frequency rank
5332
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature marié mérite
Definition Qui s’est marié ; qui a un époux ou une épouse. Ce qui rend une personne digne d’estime.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set marié and mérite apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
marié
6 ch
mérite

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: marié is \ma.ʁje\ while mérite is \me.ʁit\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 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 5332, 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\. mérite is at rank #1,395, tagged as anoun, pronounced \me.ʁit\.

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 5332, this pair ranks #429,307 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of marié vs mérite

Shared letters: imré. Private to "marié": a. Private to "mérite": et.

"marié" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "mérite" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Frequency comparison

marié#3,937
mérite#1,395

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "marié" and "mérite" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "marié" is an adjective and "mérite" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "marié" or "mérite"?
"mérite" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,395 in our French list, against #3,937 for "marié". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering marié vs mérite

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 “mérite”.
  • 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