Which to use
“mers” is a noun and “mûres” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,271
- “mers” frequency rank
- #25,411
- “mûres” frequency rank
- 33682
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mers | mûres |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de mer. | Féminin pluriel de mûr. |
Where the eye mixes mers and mûres
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between mers and mûres
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mers is \mɛʁ\ while mûres is \myʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33682, 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\. mûres is at rank #25,411, tagged as anadj, pronounced \myʁ\.
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 33682, this pair ranks #289,002 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mers vs mûres
Shared letters: emrs. Private to "mers": -. Private to "mûres": û.
"mers" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "mûres" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- mers ← emrs · merrs · merss · mesr · mmers · mres
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mers" and "mûres" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "mers" vs "mûres" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "mers" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mûres" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #289,002 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mers" and "mûres" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "muer vs mûres". 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 #289,002 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.