Which to use
“méritées” and “méritent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,674
- “méritées” frequency rank
- #5,788
- “méritent” frequency rank
- 54462
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | méritées | méritent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Participe passé féminin pluriel de mériter. | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de mériter. |
Where the eye mixes méritées and méritent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. méritées (CVCVCVVC) and méritent (CVCVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses méritées with méritent
A purely visual mix-up. méritées (\me.ʁi.te\) and méritent (\me.ʁit\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54462, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
méritées is recorded at frequency rank #48,674, classified as averb, pronounced \me.ʁi.te\. méritent is at rank #5,788, tagged as averb, pronounced \me.ʁit\.
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 54462, this pair ranks #133,902 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of méritées vs méritent
Shared letters: eimrté. Private to "méritées": s. Private to "méritent": n.
"méritées" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC · "méritent" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "méritées" and "méritent" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "méritées" vs "méritent" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "méritées" and "méritent" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "méritées" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "méritent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #133,902 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "méritées" and "méritent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "méritées vs méritons". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #133,902 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.