mentíavsmetíanWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“mentía” and “metían” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#39,337
“mentía” frequency rank
#40,394
“metían” frequency rank
79731
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mentía metían
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de mentir. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de meter o de meterse.

Where the eye mixes mentía and metían

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
mentía
6 ch
metían

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. mentía ([mẽn̪ˈt̪ia]) and metían ([meˈt̪iãn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they are an anagram pair: the same letters reordered. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 79731, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mentía is recorded at frequency rank #39,337, classified as averb, pronounced [mẽn̪ˈt̪ia]. metían is at rank #40,394, tagged as averb, pronounced [meˈt̪iãn].

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 79731, this pair ranks #12,621 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of mentía vs metían

Shared letters: aemntí. Private to "mentía": -. Private to "metían": -.

"mentía" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "metían" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mentía" and "metían" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([mẽn̪ˈt̪ia] versus [meˈt̪iãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "mentía" or "metían"?
"mentía" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #39,337 in our Spanish list, against #40,394 for "metían". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list