mariezvsmartienConfusable pair

Quick tell: mariez is a verb, martien is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#44,040
“mariez” frequency rank
#29,435
“martien” frequency rank
73475
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mariez martien
Definition Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de marier. Relatif à l’influence de Mars.

Where the eye mixes mariez and martien

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. mariez runs 6 letters (CVCVVC) against martien's 7 (CVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
mariez
7 ch
martien

Why the eye confuses mariez with martien

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mariez is \ma.ʁje\ while martien is \maʁ.sjɛ̃\. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73475, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mariez is recorded at frequency rank #44,040, classified as averb, pronounced \ma.ʁje\. martien is at rank #29,435, tagged as anadj, pronounced \maʁ.sjɛ̃\.

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 73475, this pair ranks #40,349 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of mariez vs martien

Shared letters: aeimr. Private to "mariez": z. Private to "martien": nt.

"mariez" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "martien" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mariez ← amriez · mairez · mareiz · mariezz · marize · marriez · mmariez · mraiez
  • martien ← amrtien · mariten · marrtien · martein · martienn · marttien · matrien · mmartien

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "mariez" for "martien" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mariez" is a verb and "martien" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "mariez" vs "martien" - which ranks higher?
"martien" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,435 in our French list, against #44,040 for "mariez". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "mariez" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "martien" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #40,349 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mariez" and "martien" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mariera vs mariez". 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 #40,349 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