Which to use
“méritent” and “méritons” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,788
- “méritent” frequency rank
- #49,811
- “méritons” frequency rank
- 55599
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | méritent | méritons |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de mériter. | Première personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de mériter. |
Where the eye mixes méritent and méritons
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. méritent and méritons follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: méritent vs méritons
A purely visual mix-up. méritent (\me.ʁit\) 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 55599, 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\. 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 55599, this pair ranks #126,454 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of méritent vs méritons
Shared letters: imnrté. Private to "méritent": e. Private to "méritons": os.
"méritent" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC · "méritons" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "méritent" and "méritons" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "méritent" vs "méritons" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "méritent" 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 #126,454 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "méritent" and "méritons" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "méritées vs méritons". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #126,454 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.