Which to use
“ma” is a contraction and “math” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,420
- “ma” frequency rank
- #31,869
- “math” frequency rank
- 35289
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ma | math |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | contração do pronome pessoal do caso oblíquo me e a | bom |
Letter map: ma vs math
Shared letters muted; letters that set ma and math apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Part-of-speech tell for ma / math
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: ma is acontraction and mathanadjective. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “ma” sits inside “math”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35289, 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/. math is at rank #31,869, tagged as anadj.
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 35289, this pair ranks #31,769 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ma vs math
Shared letters: am. Private to "ma": -. Private to "math": ht.
"ma" · 2 letters · shape CV · "math" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- math ← amth · maht · mathh · matth · mmath · mtah
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ma" for "math" ever safe?
Which is more common, "ma" or "math"?
After this comparison
Pair "ma" vs "math" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "ma" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "math" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #31,769 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ma" and "math" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs math". 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 #31,769 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.