méritéesvsméritonsTell them apart

Which to use

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

#48,674
“méritées” frequency rank
#49,811
“méritons” frequency rank
98485
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature méritées méritons
Definition Participe passé féminin pluriel de mériter. Première personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de mériter.

Where the eye mixes méritées and méritons

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. méritées (CVCVCVVC) and méritons (CVCVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

8 ch
méritées
8 ch
méritons

Look-alike desk: méritées vs méritons

A purely visual mix-up. méritées (\me.ʁi.te\) and méritons (\me.ʁi.tɔ̃\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 98485, 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\. méritons is at rank #49,811, tagged as averb, pronounced \me.ʁi.tɔ̃\.

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 98485, this pair ranks #103 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of méritées vs méritons

Shared letters: imrsté. Private to "méritées": e. Private to "méritons": no.

"méritées" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC  ·  "méritons" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "méritées" for "méritons" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\me.ʁi.te\ versus \me.ʁi.tɔ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "méritées" vs "méritons" - which ranks higher?
"méritées" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #48,674 in our French list, against #49,811 for "méritons". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "méritées" and "méritons" 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 "méritons" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #103 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "méritées" and "méritons" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "méritants vs méritons". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #103 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list