Which to use
“merece” and “mereces” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,865
- “merece” frequency rank
- #8,839
- “mereces” frequency rank
- 10704
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | merece | mereces |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de merecer o de merecerse. | Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de merecer o de merecerse. |
Where the eye mixes merece and mereces
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between merece and mereces
A purely visual mix-up. merece ([meˈɾese]) and mereces ([meˈɾeses]) 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 extra letter(s) - “merece” sits inside “mereces”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10704, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
merece is recorded at frequency rank #1,865, classified as averb, pronounced [meˈɾese]. mereces is at rank #8,839, tagged as averb, pronounced [meˈɾeses].
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 10704, this pair ranks #297,674 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of merece vs mereces
Shared letters: cemr. Private to "merece": -. Private to "mereces": s.
"merece" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "mereces" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "merece" for "mereces" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "merece" or "mereces" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "merece" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mereces" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #297,674 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "merece" and "mereces" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mereces vs merecías". 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 #297,674 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.