metasvsmetíanWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: metas is a noun, metían is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“metas” is a noun and “metían” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,799
“metas” frequency rank
#40,394
“metían” frequency rank
44193
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature metas metían
Definition Forma del plural de meta. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de meter o de meterse.

Where the eye mixes metas and metían

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
metas
6 ch
metían

Look-alike desk: metas vs metían

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: metas is [ˈmet̪as] while metían is [meˈt̪iãn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44193, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

metas is recorded at frequency rank #3,799, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmet̪as]. metían is at rank #40,394, tagged as averb, pronounced [meˈt̪iãn].

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 44193, this pair ranks #138,432 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of metas vs metían

Shared letters: aemt. Private to "metas": s. Private to "metían": .

"metas" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "metían" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • metasemtas · meats · metass · metsa · mettas · mmetas · mteas

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "metas" and "metían" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "metas" is a noun and "metían" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "metas" or "metían" show up more?
"metas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,799 in our Spanish list, against #40,394 for "metían". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "metas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "metían" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #138,432 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "metas" and "metían" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "medial vs metían". 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 #138,432 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list