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 eye mixes méritent and mérités
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. méritent runs 8 letters (CVCVCVCC) against mérités's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: méritent vs mérités
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
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "méritent" for "mérités" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "méritent" or "mérités" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "méritent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mérités" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #286,518 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "méritent" and "mérités" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mérités vs méritons". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #286,518 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.