Which to use
“mercado” and “merced” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #590
- “mercado” frequency rank
- #9,152
- “merced” frequency rank
- 9742
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mercado | merced |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Sitio o edificio destinado a la compraventa de bienes y servicios. | Premio o galardón que se da por el trabajo, especialmente al jornalero. |
Where the eye mixes mercado and merced
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. mercado runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against merced's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: mercado vs merced
A purely visual mix-up. mercado ([meɾˈkað̞o]) and merced ([meɾˈseð̞]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9742, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mercado is recorded at frequency rank #590, classified as anoun, pronounced [meɾˈkað̞o]. merced is at rank #9,152, tagged as anoun, pronounced [meɾˈseð̞].
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 9742, this pair ranks #300,966 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mercado vs merced
Shared letters: cdemr. Private to "mercado": ao. Private to "merced": -.
"mercado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "merced" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mercado" and "merced" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "mercado" vs "merced" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "mercado" and "merced" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "mercado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "merced" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #300,966 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mercado" and "merced" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Mellado vs mercado". 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 #300,966 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.