Which to use
“mer” and “metro” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #22,090
- “mer” frequency rank
- #4,246
- “metro” frequency rank
- 26336
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mer | metro |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mar | medida que regula a quantidade de sílabas de cada verso |
Where the eye mixes mer and metro
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. mer runs 3 letters (CVC) against metro's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses mer with metro
A purely visual mix-up. mer (/mɛʁ/) and metro (/ˈmɛ.tɾu/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26336, 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/. metro is at rank #4,246, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɛ.tɾu/.
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 26336, this pair ranks #42,857 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mer vs metro
Shared letters: emr. Private to "mer": -. Private to "metro": ot.
"mer" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "metro" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- metro ← emtro · merto · metor · metrro · mettro · mmetro · mtero
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mer" and "metro" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "mer" or "metro" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "mer" and "metro" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "mer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "metro" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #42,857 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mer" and "metro" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs mer". 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 #42,857 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.