maavsmecWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#48,525
“maa” frequency rank
#8,225
“mec” frequency rank
56750
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature maa mec
Definition chão, solo tranquilo

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set maa and mec apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
maa
3 ch
mec

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: maa is anoun and mecanadjective. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56750, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

maa is recorded at frequency rank #48,525, classified as anoun. mec is at rank #8,225, 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 56750, this pair ranks #9,771 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of maa vs mec

Shared letters: m. Private to "maa": a. Private to "mec": ce.

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

Frequency comparison

maa#48,525
mec#8,225

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "maa" and "mec" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "maa" is a noun and "mec" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "maa" or "mec"?
"mec" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,225 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 mec

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “maa”; for an adjective, it's “mec”.
  • 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