machãovsmansãoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#37,901
“machão” frequency rank
#6,672
“mansão” frequency rank
44573
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature machão mansão
Definition mulher de aspecto e de modos varonis morada

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
machão
6 ch
mansão

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. machão (/mɐ.ˈʃɐ̃w̃/) and mansão (/mɐ̃.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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44573, 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/. mansão is at rank #6,672, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mɐ̃.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 44573, this pair ranks #20,883 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of machão vs mansão

Shared letters: amoã. Private to "machão": ch. Private to "mansão": ns.

"machão" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "mansão" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV

Frequency comparison

machão#37,901
mansão#6,672

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "machão" and "mansão" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/mɐ.ˈʃɐ̃w̃/ versus /mɐ̃.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "machão" or "mansão"?
"mansão" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,672 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 mansão

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 “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