machãovsmancharWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: machão is a noun, manchar is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“machão” is a noun and “manchar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#37,901
“machão” frequency rank
#31,443
“manchar” frequency rank
69344
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature machão manchar
Definition mulher de aspecto e de modos varonis sujar, poluir

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
machão
7 ch
manchar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: machão is /mɐ.ˈʃɐ̃w̃/ while manchar is /mɐ̃.ˈʃaɾ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69344, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

machão is recorded at frequency rank #37,901, classified as anoun, pronounced /mɐ.ˈʃɐ̃w̃/. manchar is at rank #31,443, tagged as averb, pronounced /mɐ̃.ˈʃaɾ/.

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 69344, this pair ranks #3,969 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of machão vs manchar

Shared letters: achm. Private to "machão": . Private to "manchar": nr.

"machão" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "manchar" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mancharamnchar · macnhar · mancahr · mancchar · mancharr · manchhar · manchra · manhcar

Frequency comparison

machão#37,901
manchar#31,443

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "machão" and "manchar" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "machão" is a noun and "manchar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "machão" or "manchar"?
"manchar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,443 in our Portuguese list, against #37,901 for "machão". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering machão vs manchar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “machão”; for a verb, it's “manchar”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “machão” 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