Which to use
“mer” is a noun and “meu” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #22,090
- “mer” frequency rank
- #46
- “meu” frequency rank
- 22136
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mer | meu |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mar | de posse da primeira pessoa do singular (eu); pertencente a mim |
Where the eye mixes mer and meu
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. mer (CVC) and meu (CVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: mer vs meu
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mer is /mɛʁ/ while meu is /ˈmew/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - r in “mer” becomes u in “meu”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22136, 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/. meu is at rank #46, tagged as apron, pronounced /ˈmew/.
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 22136, this pair ranks #47,973 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mer vs meu
Shared letters: em. Private to "mer": r. Private to "meu": u.
"mer" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "meu" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mer" for "meu" ever safe?
Frequency check: "mer" vs "meu" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "mer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "meu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #47,973 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mer" and "meu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs mer". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #47,973 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.