méritentvsméritésWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,788
“méritent” frequency rank
#28,260
“mérités” frequency rank
34048
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature méritent mérités
Definition Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de mériter. Participe passé masculin pluriel de mériter.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set méritent and mérités apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
méritent
7 ch
mérités

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. méritent (\me.ʁit\) and mérités (\me.ʁi.te\) 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 34048, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

méritent is recorded at frequency rank #5,788, classified as averb, pronounced \me.ʁit\. mérités is at rank #28,260, tagged as averb, pronounced \me.ʁi.te\.

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 34048, this pair ranks #286,518 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of méritent vs mérités

Shared letters: imrté. Private to "méritent": en. Private to "mérités": s.

"méritent" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC  ·  "mérités" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Frequency comparison

méritent#5,788
mérités#28,260

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "méritent" and "mérités" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\me.ʁit\ versus \me.ʁi.te\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "méritent" or "mérités"?
"méritent" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,788 in our French list, against #28,260 for "mérités". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering méritent vs mérités

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 “méritent” 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