muerdevsmuerteWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#16,909
“muerde” frequency rank
#305
“muerte” frequency rank
17214
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature muerde muerte
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de morder. Fin de la vida, en especial de una persona

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set muerde and muerte apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
muerde
6 ch
muerte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: muerde is [ˈmweɾð̞e] while muerte is [ˈmweɾt̪e]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - d in “muerde” becomes t in “muerte”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17214, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

muerde is recorded at frequency rank #16,909, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈmweɾð̞e]. muerte is at rank #305, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmweɾt̪e].

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 17214, this pair ranks #273,078 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of muerde vs muerte

Shared letters: emru. Private to "muerde": d. Private to "muerte": t.

"muerde" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "muerte" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • muerdemeurde · mmuerde · muedre · muerdde · muered · muerrde · murede · umerde
  • muertemeurte · mmuerte · mueret · muerrte · muertte · muetre · murete · umerte

Frequency comparison

muerde#16,909
muerte#305

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "muerde" and "muerte" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "muerde" is a verb and "muerte" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "muerde" or "muerte"?
"muerte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #305 in our Spanish list, against #16,909 for "muerde". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering muerde vs muerte

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “muerde”; for a noun, it's “muerte”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “muerde” 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