metervsmotelWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: meter is a verb, motel is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“meter” is a verb and “motel” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,705
“meter” frequency rank
#9,372
“motel” frequency rank
13077
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature meter motel
Definition introduzir; fazer entrar estabelecimento de hospedagem em que as pessoas geralmente vão com o objetivo de manter relações sexuais e não necessariamente para conseguir alojamento

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
meter
5 ch
motel

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: meter is /mɨ.ˈteɾ/ while motel is /mɔ.ˈtɛɫ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13077, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

meter is recorded at frequency rank #3,705, classified as averb, pronounced /mɨ.ˈteɾ/. motel is at rank #9,372, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mɔ.ˈtɛɫ/.

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 13077, this pair ranks #59,366 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of meter vs motel

Shared letters: emt. Private to "meter": r. Private to "motel": lo.

"meter" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "motel" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • meteremter · meetr · meterr · metre · metter · mmeter · mteer
  • motelmmotel · moetl · motell · motle · mottel · mtoel · omtel

Frequency comparison

meter#3,705
motel#9,372

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "meter" and "motel" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "meter" is a verb and "motel" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "meter" or "motel"?
"meter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,705 in our Portuguese list, against #9,372 for "motel". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering meter vs motel

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “meter”; for a noun, it's “motel”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “meter” 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