achavsamaConfusable pair

Which to use

“acha” and “ama” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#547
“acha” frequency rank
#1,454
“ama” frequency rank
2001
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature acha ama
Definition cavaca mulher que amamenta filho alheio

Where the eye mixes acha and ama

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
acha
3 ch
ama

Look-alike desk: acha vs ama

A purely visual mix-up. acha (/ˈa.ʃɐ/) and ama (/ˈɐ.mɐ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2001, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

acha is recorded at frequency rank #547, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈa.ʃɐ/. ama is at rank #1,454, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɐ.mɐ/.

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 2001, this pair ranks #73,495 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of acha vs ama

Shared letters: a. Private to "acha": ch. Private to "ama": m.

"acha" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "ama" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • achaacah · accha · achha · ahca · caha

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "acha" and "ama" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈa.ʃɐ/ versus /ˈɐ.mɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "acha" or "ama"?
"acha" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #547 in our Portuguese list, against #1,454 for "ama". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "acha" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ama" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #73,495 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "acha" and "ama" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "acs vs ama". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #73,495 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list