Which to use
“Imam” is a noun and “irmão” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,047
- “Imam” frequency rank
- #566
- “irmão” frequency rank
- 42613
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Imam | irmão |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | imã | que mostra semelhança em relação a outra coisa |
Where the eye mixes Imam and irmão
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Imam and irmão
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Imam is /iˈmaːm/ while irmão is /iɾ.ˈmɐ̃w̃/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42613, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Imam is recorded at frequency rank #42,047, classified as anoun, pronounced /iˈmaːm/. irmão is at rank #566, tagged as anadj, pronounced /iɾ.ˈmɐ̃w̃/.
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 42613, this pair ranks #23,136 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Imam vs irmão
Shared letters: im. Private to "Imam": a. Private to "irmão": orã.
"Imam" · 4 letters · shape VCVC · "irmão" · 5 letters · shape VCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- Imam ← iamm · imamm · imma · immam · miam
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Imam" and "irmão" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "Imam" or "irmão"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Imam" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "irmão" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #23,136 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Imam" and "irmão" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Imam vs imi". 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 #23,136 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.