Usage
Meteg is primarily used in Biblical Hebrew to mark secondary stress and vowel length. Words may contain multiple metegs, e.g. מֹשְׁבֹתֵיכֶם, וּלְאֶבְיֹנְךָ.
Meteg is also sometimes used in Biblical Hebrew to mark a long vowel. While short and long vowels are largely allophonic, they are not always predictable from spelling, e.g. ויראו 'and they saw' vs. ויראו 'and they feared'. Meteg's indication of length also indirectly indicates that a following shva is vocal, as in the previous case. Note that this may distinguish qamatz gadol and qatan, e.g. שמרה 'she guarded' vs. שמרה 'guard (volitive)'.
Meteg is not used at all in Modern Hebrew. In modern usage meteg is only used in liturgical contexts. Siddurim may use meteg to mark primary stress. Some only use meteg to mark penultimate stress, since the majority of Hebrew words have final stress.
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