mariésvsméritésWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: mariés is a adjective, mérités is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“mariés” is an adjective and “mérités” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#7,593
“mariés” frequency rank
#28,260
“mérités” frequency rank
35853
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mariés mérités
Definition Masculin pluriel de l’adjectif marié. Participe passé masculin pluriel de mériter.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mariés and mérités apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
mariés
7 ch
mérités

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mariés is \ma.ʁje\ while mérités is \me.ʁi.te\. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35853, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mariés is recorded at frequency rank #7,593, classified as anadj, pronounced \ma.ʁje\. mérités is at rank #28,260, tagged as averb, pronounced \me.ʁi.te\.

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 35853, this pair ranks #273,769 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mariés vs mérités

Shared letters: imrsé. Private to "mariés": a. Private to "mérités": t.

"mariés" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "mérités" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Frequency comparison

mariés#7,593
mérités#28,260

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mariés" and "mérités" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mariés" is an adjective and "mérités" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "mariés" or "mérités"?
"mariés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,593 in our French list, against #28,260 for "mérités". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering mariés vs mérités

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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