mercê vs mero, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“mercê” is a noun and “mero” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#14,186
“mercê” frequency rank: #12,105
“mero” frequency rank: 26291
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	mercê	mero
Definition	paga, soldada, preço ou recompensa por algum trabalho ou serviço	simples

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch

mercê

4 ch

mero

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: mercê is anoun and meroanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26291, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mercê is recorded at frequency rank #14,186, classified as anoun. mero is at rank #12,105, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈmɛ.ɾu/.

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 26291, this pair ranks #42,893 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mercê vs mero

Shared letters: emr. Private to "mercê": cê. Private to "mero": o.

"mercê" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "mero" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

mero ← emro · meor · merro · mmero · mreo

Frequency comparison

mercê#14,186

mero#12,105

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mercê" and "mero" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mercê" is a noun and "mero" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "mercê" or "mero"?

"mero" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,105 in our Portuguese list, against #14,186 for "mercê". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering mercê vs mero

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “mercê”; for an adjective, it's “mero”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “mercê” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable