Which to use
“médio” is an adjective and “mérito” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #994
- “médio” frequency rank
- #5,324
- “mérito” frequency rank
- 6318
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | médio | mérito |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | que está a meio caminho entre dois extremos | conjunto de características que distinguem algo ou alguém como bom e apreciável: |
Where the eye mixes médio and mérito
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. médio runs 5 letters (CVCVV) against mérito's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between médio and mérito
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: médio is /ˈmɛ.dju/ while mérito is /ˈmɛ.ɾi.tu/. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6318, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
médio is recorded at frequency rank #994, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈmɛ.dju/. mérito is at rank #5,324, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɛ.ɾi.tu/.
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 6318, this pair ranks #68,133 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of médio vs mérito
Shared letters: imoé. Private to "médio": d. Private to "mérito": rt.
"médio" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "mérito" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "médio" and "mérito" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "médio" or "mérito"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "médio" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mérito" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #68,133 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "médio" and "mérito" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "médio vs mein". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #68,133 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.