Which to use
“merecías” is a verb and “merecido” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #47,259
- “merecías” frequency rank
- #8,990
- “merecido” frequency rank
- 56249
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | merecías | merecido |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Segunda persona del singular (tú, vos) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de merecer o de merecerse. | Justo. Que ha sido ganado como consecuencia lógica de acciones, cualidades, actitudes o méritos propios. |
Where the eye mixes merecías and merecido
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. merecías (CVCVCVVC) and merecido (CVCVCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between merecías and merecido
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: merecías is [meɾeˈsias] while merecido is [meɾeˈsið̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56249, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
merecías is recorded at frequency rank #47,259, classified as averb, pronounced [meɾeˈsias]. merecido is at rank #8,990, tagged as anadj, pronounced [meɾeˈsið̞o].
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 56249, this pair ranks #75,401 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of merecías vs merecido
Shared letters: cemr. Private to "merecías": así. Private to "merecido": dio.
"merecías" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC · "merecido" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- merecido ← emrecido · meercido · merceido · mereccido · merecdio · mereciddo · mereciod · mereicdo
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "merecías" and "merecido" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "merecías" or "merecido" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "merecías" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "merecido" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #75,401 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "merecías" and "merecido" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "merecías vs merecida". 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 #75,401 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.