maavsmahWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: maa is a noun, mah is an intj, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“maa” is a noun and “mah” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#48,525
“maa” frequency rank
#29,420
“mah” frequency rank
77945
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature maa mah
Definition chão, solo usada para chamar ou deter alguém, ou para chamar sua atenção

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set maa and mah apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
maa
3 ch
mah

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: maa is anoun and mahanintj. On the page they differ by a single letter - a in “maa” becomes h in “mah”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77945, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

maa is recorded at frequency rank #48,525, classified as anoun. mah is at rank #29,420, tagged as anintj.

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 77945, this pair ranks #1,759 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of maa vs mah

Shared letters: am. Private to "maa": -. Private to "mah": h.

"maa" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "mah" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequency comparison

maa#48,525
mah#29,420

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "maa" and "mah" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "maa" is a noun and "mah" an intj, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "maa" or "mah"?
"mah" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,420 in our Portuguese list, against #48,525 for "maa". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering maa vs mah

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “maa”; for an intj, it's “mah”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “maa” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list