Which to use
“maçã” and “mamã” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,309
- “maçã” frequency rank
- #29,037
- “mamã” frequency rank
- 36346
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maçã | mamã |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | o fruto comestível da macieira | mãe |
Where the eye mixes maçã and mamã
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. maçã and mamã follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses maçã with mamã
A purely visual mix-up. maçã (/mɐ.ˈsɐ̃/) and mamã (/mɜˈmɜ̃/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - ç in “maçã” becomes m in “mamã”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36346, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
maçã is recorded at frequency rank #7,309, classified as anoun, pronounced /mɐ.ˈsɐ̃/. 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 36346, this pair ranks #30,502 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of maçã vs mamã
Shared letters: amã. Private to "maçã": ç. Private to "mamã": -.
"maçã" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "mamã" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "maçã" and "mamã" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "maçã" or "mamã"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "maçã" and "mamã" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "maçã" 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 #30,502 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maçã" and "mamã" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs mamã". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #30,502 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.