melãovsmetasWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“melão” and “metas” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#17,854
“melão” frequency rank
#6,791
“metas” frequency rank
24645
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature melão metas
Definition o fruto do meloeiro, Cucumis melo plural de meta

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set melão and metas apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
melão
5 ch
metas

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. melão (/mɨ.ˈlɐ̃w̃/) and metas (/ˈmɛ.tɐs/) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24645, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

melão is recorded at frequency rank #17,854, classified as anoun, pronounced /mɨ.ˈlɐ̃w̃/. metas is at rank #6,791, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɛ.tɐs/.

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 24645, this pair ranks #44,905 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of melão vs metas

Shared letters: em. Private to "melão": loã. Private to "metas": ast.

"melão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "metas" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • metasemtas · meats · metass · metsa · mettas · mmetas · mteas

Frequency comparison

melão#17,854
metas#6,791

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "melão" and "metas" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/mɨ.ˈlɐ̃w̃/ versus /ˈmɛ.tɐs/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "melão" or "metas"?
"metas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,791 in our Portuguese list, against #17,854 for "melão". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering melão vs metas

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “melão” 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