Which to use
“mers” and “métros” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,271
- “mers” frequency rank
- #28,261
- “métros” frequency rank
- 36532
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mers | métros |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de mer. | Pluriel de métro. |
Where the eye mixes mers and métros
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. mers runs 4 letters (CVCC) against métros's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses mers with métros
A purely visual mix-up. mers (\mɛʁ\) and métros (\me.tʁo\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36532, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mers is recorded at frequency rank #8,271, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɛʁ\. métros is at rank #28,261, tagged as anoun, pronounced \me.tʁo\.
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 36532, this pair ranks #268,958 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mers vs métros
Shared letters: mrs. Private to "mers": e. Private to "métros": oté.
"mers" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "métros" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- mers ← emrs · merrs · merss · mesr · mmers · mres
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mers" for "métros" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "mers" or "métros" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "mers" and "métros" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "mers" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "métros" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #268,958 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mers" and "métros" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "macros vs métros". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #268,958 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.