mercisvsmersWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“mercis” and “mers” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#48,043
“mercis” frequency rank
#8,271
“mers” frequency rank
56314
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mercis mers
Definition Pluriel de merci. Pluriel de mer.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mercis and mers apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
mercis
4 ch
mers

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. mercis (\mɛʁ.si\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56314, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mercis is recorded at frequency rank #48,043, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɛʁ.si\. 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 56314, this pair ranks #121,865 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mercis vs mers

Shared letters: emrs. Private to "mercis": ci. Private to "mers": -.

"mercis" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "mers" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mercisemrcis · mecris · merccis · merciss · mercsi · merics · merrcis · mmercis
  • mersemrs · merrs · merss · mesr · mmers · mres

Frequency comparison

mercis#48,043
mers#8,271

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mercis" and "mers" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\mɛʁ.si\ versus \mɛʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "mercis" or "mers"?
"mers" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,271 in our French list, against #48,043 for "mercis". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering mercis vs mers

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “mercis” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list