muerdevsmurderWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#16,909
“muerde” frequency rank
#49,814
“murder” frequency rank
66723
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature muerde murder
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de morder. Asesinato.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
muerde
6 ch
murder

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: muerde is [ˈmweɾð̞e] while murder is /ˈmɜː.də(ɹ)/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66723, 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]. murder is at rank #49,814, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɜː.də(ɹ)/.

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 66723, this pair ranks #39,066 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of muerde vs murder

Shared letters: demru. Private to "muerde": -. Private to "murder": -.

"muerde" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "murder" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • muerdemeurde · mmuerde · muedre · muerdde · muered · muerrde · murede · umerde
  • murdermmurder · mruder · mudrer · murdder · murderr · murdre · muredr · murrder

Frequency comparison

muerde#16,909
murder#49,814

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "muerde" and "murder" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "muerde" is a verb and "murder" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "muerde" or "murder"?
"muerde" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,909 in our Spanish list, against #49,814 for "murder". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering muerde vs murder

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 “murder”.
  • 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