AdamvsamaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,033
“Adam” frequency rank
#1,454
“ama” frequency rank
5487
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Adam ama
Definition Adão mulher que amamenta filho alheio

Where the eye mixes Adam and ama

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Adam runs 4 letters (VCVC) against ama's 3 (VCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
Adam
3 ch
ama

Why the eye confuses Adam with ama

A purely visual mix-up. Adam (/ˈaːdam/.) 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 5487, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Adam is recorded at frequency rank #4,033, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈaːdam/.. 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 5487, this pair ranks #69,121 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Adam vs ama

Shared letters: am. Private to "Adam": d. Private to "ama": -.

"Adam" · 4 letters · shape VCVC  ·  "ama" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Adam ← aadm · adamm · addam · adma · daam

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Adam" and "ama" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈaːdam/. versus /ˈɐ.mɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Adam" vs "ama" - which ranks higher?
"ama" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,454 in our Portuguese list, against #4,033 for "Adam". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Adam" 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 #69,121 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Adam" and "ama" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Adam vs audaz". 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 #69,121 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