Which to use
“merece” and “mereció” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,865
- “merece” frequency rank
- #24,567
- “mereció” frequency rank
- 26432
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | merece | mereció |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de merecer o de merecerse. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de merecer o de merecerse. |
Where the eye mixes merece and mereció
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: merece vs mereció
A purely visual mix-up. merece ([meˈɾese]) and mereció ([meɾeˈsjo]) 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 26432, 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]. mereció is at rank #24,567, tagged as averb, pronounced [meɾeˈsjo].
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 26432, this pair ranks #231,636 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of merece vs mereció
Shared letters: cemr. Private to "merece": -. Private to "mereció": ió.
"merece" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "mereció" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- merece ← emrece · meerce · mercee · merecce · mereec · merese · merrece · mmerece
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "merece" for "mereció" ever safe?
Frequency check: "merece" vs "mereció" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "merece" and "mereció" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "merece" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mereció" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #231,636 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "merece" and "mereció" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "merecías vs mereció". 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 #231,636 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.