Which to use
“merecen” and “mereció” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,940
- “merecen” frequency rank
- #24,567
- “mereció” frequency rank
- 28507
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | merecen | mereció |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 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 merecen and mereció
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. merecen (CVCVCVC) and mereció (CVCVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between merecen and mereció
A purely visual mix-up. merecen ([meˈɾesẽn]) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28507, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
merecen is recorded at frequency rank #3,940, classified as averb, pronounced [meˈɾesẽn]. 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 28507, this pair ranks #221,693 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of merecen vs mereció
Shared letters: cemr. Private to "merecen": n. Private to "mereció": ió.
"merecen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "mereció" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- merecen ← emrecen · meercen · merceen · mereccen · merecenn · merecne · mereecn · meresen
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "merecen" and "mereció" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "merecen" or "mereció" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "merecen" and "mereció" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "merecen" 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 #221,693 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "merecen" 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 #221,693 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.