machãovsmarchaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#37,901
“machão” frequency rank
#4,003
“marcha” frequency rank
41904
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature machão marcha
Definition mulher de aspecto e de modos varonis ato de marchar

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
machão
6 ch
marcha

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. machão (/mɐ.ˈʃɐ̃w̃/) and marcha (/ˈmaɾ.ʃɐ/) 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 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41904, 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/. marcha is at rank #4,003, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmaɾ.ʃɐ/.

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 41904, this pair ranks #23,948 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of machão vs marcha

Shared letters: achm. Private to "machão": . Private to "marcha": r.

"machão" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "marcha" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • marchaamrcha · macrha · marcah · marccha · marchha · marhca · marrcha · mmarcha

Frequency comparison

machão#37,901
marcha#4,003

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "machão" and "marcha" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/mɐ.ˈʃɐ̃w̃/ versus /ˈmaɾ.ʃɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "machão" or "marcha"?
"marcha" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,003 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 marcha

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