Which to use
“maris” and “mercis” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,002
- “maris” frequency rank
- #48,043
- “mercis” frequency rank
- 61045
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maris | mercis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de mari. | Pluriel de merci. |
Where the eye mixes maris and mercis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. maris runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against mercis's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between maris and mercis
A purely visual mix-up. maris (\ma.ʁi\) and mercis (\mɛʁ.si\) 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 61045, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
maris is recorded at frequency rank #13,002, classified as anoun, pronounced \ma.ʁi\. mercis is at rank #48,043, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɛʁ.si\.
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 61045, this pair ranks #94,369 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of maris vs mercis
Shared letters: imrs. Private to "maris": a. Private to "mercis": ce.
"maris" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "mercis" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "maris" and "mercis" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "maris" or "mercis"?
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 "maris" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mercis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #94,369 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maris" and "mercis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "marcia vs mercis". 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 #94,369 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.