Seeking to reconcile two contradictory realities — a friend said admission was free, and a sign said admission might or might not be $25 — Ingrid Opperman stood at the entrance desk to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on a recent morning and whipped out her English-German dictionary.

“I am looking up ‘admissions,’ ” explained Ms. Opperman, 75. “I am also looking up ‘recommended.’ ”

You don’t have to be from Stuttgart to feel befuddled by the Met’s entrance policy, with its signs telling you what to spend and then suggesting that you do not have to spend it. Two lawsuits wending their way through State Supreme Court are seeking to address that confusion, accusing the museum of misleading the public not only about how much to pay — but also, more important, about whether it is necessary to pay at all.

Late last month, the museum argued in State Supreme Court that the cases, brought by members of the public, had no merit and should be thrown out. (The judge has yet to rule.)

Under a clause in its original 1876 lease for the space, and according to an 1893 state law, the suits contend, the museum is required to allow visitors to be admitted free on most days of the week.