maavsmatWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“maa” and “mat” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#48,525
“maa” frequency rank
#21,805
“mat” frequency rank
70330
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature maa mat
Definition chão, solo casamento

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch
maa
3 ch
mat

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

maa and mat are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by a single letter - a in “maa” becomes t in “mat”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70330, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

maa is recorded at frequency rank #48,525, classified as anoun. mat is at rank #21,805, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mat/.

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 70330, this pair ranks #3,657 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of maa vs mat

Shared letters: am. Private to "maa": -. Private to "mat": t.

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

Frequency comparison

maa#48,525
mat#21,805

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "maa" and "mat" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by a single letter - a in “maa” becomes t in “mat”, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "maa" or "mat"?
"mat" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,805 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 mat

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • 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