agevsamaWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#4,692
“age” frequency rank
#1,454
“ama” frequency rank
6146
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature age ama
Definition envelhecer mulher que amamenta filho alheio

Letter map: age vs ama

Shared letters muted; letters that set age and ama apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
age
3 ch
ama

Grammar separator: age vs ama

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: age is averb and amaanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6146, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

age is recorded at frequency rank #4,692, classified as averb. 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 6146, this pair ranks #68,346 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of age vs ama

Shared letters: a. Private to "age": eg. Private to "ama": m.

"age" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "ama" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "age" and "ama" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "age" is a verb and "ama" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "age" or "ama" show up more?
"ama" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,454 in our Portuguese list, against #4,692 for "age". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "age" and "ama".

  • Full dictionary entry for "age" 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 #68,346 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "age" and "ama" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "acs vs age". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #68,346 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