mervsmercêWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#22,090
“mer” frequency rank
#14,186
“mercê” frequency rank
36276
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mer mercê
Definition mar paga, soldada, preço ou recompensa por algum trabalho ou serviço

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mer and mercê apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
mer
5 ch
mercê

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

mer and mercê are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “mer” sits inside “mercê”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36276, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mer is recorded at frequency rank #22,090, classified as anoun, pronounced /mɛʁ/. mercê is at rank #14,186, tagged as anoun.

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 36276, this pair ranks #30,583 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mer vs mercê

Shared letters: emr. Private to "mer": -. Private to "mercê": .

"mer" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "mercê" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Frequency comparison

mer#22,090
mercê#14,186

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mer" and "mercê" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “mer” sits inside “mercê”, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "mer" or "mercê"?
"mercê" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,186 in our Portuguese list, against #22,090 for "mer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering mer vs mercê

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 “mer” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list