Which to use
“ma” is a contraction and “mamã” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,420
- “ma” frequency rank
- #29,037
- “mamã” frequency rank
- 32457
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ma | mamã |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | contração do pronome pessoal do caso oblíquo me e a | mãe |
Where the eye mixes ma and mamã
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between ma and mamã
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ma is /mɐ/ while mamã is /mɜˈmɜ̃/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “ma” sits inside “mamã”, and the parts of speech differ too (contraction vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32457, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ma is recorded at frequency rank #3,420, classified as acontraction, pronounced /mɐ/. mamã is at rank #29,037, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mɜˈmɜ̃/.
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 32457, this pair ranks #35,350 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ma vs mamã
Shared letters: am. Private to "ma": -. Private to "mamã": ã.
"ma" · 2 letters · shape CV · "mamã" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ma" for "mamã" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "ma" or "mamã" show up more?
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 "ma" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mamã" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #35,350 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ma" and "mamã" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs mamã". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #35,350 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.