maçãvsmatchWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#7,309
“maçã” frequency rank
#14,647
“match” frequency rank
21956
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature maçã match
Definition o fruto comestível da macieira palito de fósforo

Where the eye mixes maçã and match

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
maçã
5 ch
match

Look-alike desk: maçã vs match

A purely visual mix-up. maçã (/mɐ.ˈsɐ̃/) and match (/ˈmætʃ/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21956, 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/. match is at rank #14,647, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmætʃ/.

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 21956, this pair ranks #48,190 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of maçã vs match

Shared letters: am. Private to "maçã": ãç. Private to "match": cht.

"maçã" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "match" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • matchamtch · macth · matcch · matchh · mathc · mattch · mmatch · mtach

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "maçã" and "match" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/mɐ.ˈsɐ̃/ versus /ˈmætʃ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "maçã" or "match"?
"maçã" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,309 in our Portuguese list, against #14,647 for "match". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "maçã" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "match" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #48,190 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "maçã" and "match" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "match vs matiz". 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 #48,190 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list