Which to use
“mein” is a pronoun and “metía” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #32,294
- “mein” frequency rank
- #18,897
- “metía” frequency rank
- 51191
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mein | metía |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Mi. | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de meter o de meterse. |
Where the eye mixes mein and metía
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. mein runs 4 letters (CVVC) against metía's 5 (CVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses mein with metía
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mein is [mai̮n] while metía is [meˈt̪ia]. 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 (pronoun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51191, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mein is recorded at frequency rank #32,294, classified as apron, pronounced [mai̮n]. metía is at rank #18,897, tagged as averb, pronounced [meˈt̪ia].
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 51191, this pair ranks #99,140 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mein vs metía
Shared letters: em. Private to "mein": in. Private to "metía": atí.
"mein" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "metía" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- mein ← emin · meinn · meni · mien · mmein
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mein" for "metía" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "mein" or "metía" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "mein" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "metía" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #99,140 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mein" and "metía" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Meier vs mein". 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 #99,140 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.