Which to use
“marks” and “mers” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,341
- “marks” frequency rank
- #8,271
- “mers” frequency rank
- 27612
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | marks | mers |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de mark. | Pluriel de mer. |
Where the eye mixes marks and mers
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between marks and mers
A purely visual mix-up. marks (\maʁk\) and mers (\mɛʁ\) 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 27612, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
marks is recorded at frequency rank #19,341, classified as anoun, pronounced \maʁk\. mers is at rank #8,271, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɛʁ\.
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 27612, this pair ranks #327,915 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of marks vs mers
Shared letters: mrs. Private to "marks": ak. Private to "mers": e.
"marks" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "mers" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "marks" and "mers" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "marks" vs "mers" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "marks" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mers" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #327,915 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "marks" and "mers" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "macros vs marks". 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 #327,915 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.