Which to use
“méritaient” and “mettaient” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,951
- “méritaient” frequency rank
- #15,441
- “mettaient” frequency rank
- 39392
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | méritaient | mettaient |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de mériter. | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’imparfait de mettre. |
Where the eye mixes méritaient and mettaient
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. méritaient runs 10 letters (CVCVCVVVCC) against mettaient's 9 (CVCCVVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses méritaient with mettaient
A purely visual mix-up. méritaient (\me.ʁi.tɛ\) and mettaient (\mɛ.tɛ\) 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 39392, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
méritaient is recorded at frequency rank #23,951, classified as averb, pronounced \me.ʁi.tɛ\. mettaient is at rank #15,441, tagged as averb, pronounced \mɛ.tɛ\.
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 39392, this pair ranks #248,317 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of méritaient vs mettaient
Shared letters: aeimnt. Private to "méritaient": ré. Private to "mettaient": -.
"méritaient" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVVVCC · "mettaient" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- mettaient ← emttaient · metaient · metatient · mettaeint · mettaiennt · mettaientt · mettaietn · mettainet
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "méritaient" for "mettaient" ever safe?
Which is more common, "méritaient" or "mettaient"?
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 "méritaient" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mettaient" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #248,317 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "méritaient" and "mettaient" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "méritaient vs méritais". 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 #248,317 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.