Which to use
“marca” and “mercy” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,013
- “marca” frequency rank
- #16,818
- “mercy” frequency rank
- 17831
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | marca | mercy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ato ou efeito de marcar | misericórdia |
Where the eye mixes marca and mercy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. marca and mercy follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between marca and mercy
A purely visual mix-up. marca (/ˈmaɾ.kɐ/) and mercy (/ˈmɜrsi/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17831, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
marca is recorded at frequency rank #1,013, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmaɾ.kɐ/. mercy is at rank #16,818, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɜrsi/.
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 17831, this pair ranks #53,309 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of marca vs mercy
Shared letters: cmr. Private to "marca": a. Private to "mercy": ey.
"marca" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "mercy" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "marca" for "mercy" ever safe?
Frequency check: "marca" vs "mercy" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "marca" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mercy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #53,309 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "marca" and "mercy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "marca vs mirra". 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 #53,309 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.