Which to use
“mein” is a pronoun and “mer” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #36,545
- “mein” frequency rank
- #22,090
- “mer” frequency rank
- 58635
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mein | mer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | meu, minha, pronome possessivo da primeira pessoa do singular: | mar |
Where the eye mixes mein and mer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. mein runs 4 letters (CVVC) against mer's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between mein and mer
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mein is /maɪ̯n/ ouvir^(fonte ?) while mer is /mɛʁ/. 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 (pronoun vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58635, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mein is recorded at frequency rank #36,545, classified as apron, pronounced /maɪ̯n/ ouvir^(fonte ?). mer is at rank #22,090, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mɛʁ/.
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 58635, this pair ranks #8,626 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of mein vs mer
Shared letters: em. Private to "mein": in. Private to "mer": r.
"mein" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "mer" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- mein ← emin · meinn · meni · mmein
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mein" and "mer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "mein" vs "mer" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "mein" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #8,626 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mein" and "mer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mein vs mens". 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 #8,626 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.