méritervsméritezWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#11,260
“mériter” frequency rank
#19,348
“méritez” frequency rank
30608
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mériter méritez
Definition Être digne, se rendre digne de. Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de mériter.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mériter and méritez apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
mériter
7 ch
méritez

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. mériter and méritez are pronounced identically (\me.ʁi.te\) and both work as averb. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by a single letter - r in “mériter” becomes z in “méritez”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30608, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mériter is recorded at frequency rank #11,260, classified as averb, pronounced \me.ʁi.te\. méritez is at rank #19,348, 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 30608, this pair ranks #309,144 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mériter vs méritez

Shared letters: eimrté. Private to "mériter": -. Private to "méritez": z.

"mériter" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "méritez" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Frequency comparison

mériter#11,260
méritez#19,348

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mériter" and "méritez" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\me.ʁi.te\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Which is more common, "mériter" or "méritez"?
"mériter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,260 in our French list, against #19,348 for "méritez". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering mériter vs méritez

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 “mériter” 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