miauvsmiréWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#39,339
“miau” frequency rank
#10,887
“miré” frequency rank
50226
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature miau miré
Definition Imita el maullido (voz que emiten el gato y otros felinos pequeños). Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de mirar o de mirarse.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set miau and miré apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
miau
4 ch
miré

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: miau is [ˈmjaw] while miré is [miˈɾe]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50226, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

miau is recorded at frequency rank #39,339, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmjaw]. miré is at rank #10,887, tagged as averb, pronounced [miˈɾe].

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 50226, this pair ranks #104,394 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of miau vs miré

Shared letters: im. Private to "miau": au. Private to "miré": .

"miau" · 4 letters · shape CVVV  ·  "miré" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • miauimau · maiu · miua · mmiau

Frequency comparison

miau#39,339
miré#10,887

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "miau" and "miré" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "miau" is a noun and "miré" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "miau" or "miré"?
"miré" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,887 in our Spanish list, against #39,339 for "miau". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering miau vs miré

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “miau”; for a verb, it's “miré”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “miau” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list