Which to use
“mer” is a noun and “MR” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #657
- “mer” frequency rank
- #2,434
- “MR” frequency rank
- 3091
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mer | MR |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Vaste étendue d’eau salée qui baigne les diverses parties de la terre. | Mouvement Réformateur, parti politique belge francophone de droite. |
Where the eye mixes mer and MR
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: mer vs MR
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mer is \mɛʁ\ while MR is \ɛ.m‿ɛʁ\. 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 (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3091, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mer is recorded at frequency rank #657, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɛʁ\. MR is at rank #2,434, tagged as aname, pronounced \ɛ.m‿ɛʁ\.
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 3091, this pair ranks #434,802 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mer vs MR
Shared letters: mr. Private to "mer": e. Private to "MR": -.
"mer" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "MR" · 2 letters · shape CC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mer" for "MR" ever safe?
Which is more common, "mer" or "MR"?
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 "mer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "MR" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #434,802 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mer" and "MR" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "MR vs MWh". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #434,802 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.