macacãovsmutaçãoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#23,720
“macacão” frequency rank
#13,796
“mutação” frequency rank
37516
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature macacão mutação
Definition macaco grande mudança na sequência dos nucleotídeos do material genético de um organismo

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set macacão and mutação apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
macacão
7 ch
mutação

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. macacão (/mɐ.kɐ.ˈkɐ̃w̃/) and mutação (/mu.tɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37516, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

macacão is recorded at frequency rank #23,720, classified as anoun, pronounced /mɐ.kɐ.ˈkɐ̃w̃/. mutação is at rank #13,796, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mu.tɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/.

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 37516, this pair ranks #29,091 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of macacão vs mutação

Shared letters: amoã. Private to "macacão": c. Private to "mutação": tuç.

"macacão" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV  ·  "mutação" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV

Frequency comparison

macacão#23,720
mutação#13,796

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "macacão" and "mutação" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/mɐ.kɐ.ˈkɐ̃w̃/ versus /mu.tɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "macacão" or "mutação"?
"mutação" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,796 in our Portuguese list, against #23,720 for "macacão". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering macacão vs mutação

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 “macacão” 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