matavsmeraTell them apart

Quick tell: mata is a noun, mera is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“mata” is a noun and “mera” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,618
“mata” frequency rank
#7,196
“mera” frequency rank
9814
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mata mera
Definition Planta de poca altura y tallo múltiple o ramificado. Forma del femenino de mero₂.

Where the eye mixes mata and mera

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
mata
4 ch
mera

Visual trap between mata and mera

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mata is [ˈmat̪a] while mera is [ˈmeɾa]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9814, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mata is recorded at frequency rank #2,618, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmat̪a]. mera is at rank #7,196, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈmeɾa].

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 9814, this pair ranks #300,748 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mata vs mera

Shared letters: am. Private to "mata": t. Private to "mera": er.

"mata" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "mera" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mataamta · maat · mmata · mtaa
  • meraemra · merra · mmera · mrea

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "mata" and "mera" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mata" is a noun and "mera" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "mata" or "mera" show up more?
"mata" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,618 in our Spanish list, against #7,196 for "mera". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "mata" and "mera" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mata" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mera" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #300,748 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mata" and "mera" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mera vs mur". 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 #300,748 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list