Which to use
“maço” is a noun and “mamão” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #25,742
- “maço” frequency rank
- #23,399
- “mamão” frequency rank
- 49141
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maço | mamão |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | instrumento de madeira encabado para uso de carpinteiros, escultores, etc. | que mama muito |
Letter map: maço vs mamão
Shared letters muted; letters that set maço and mamão apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. maço runs 4 letters (CVCV) against mamão's 5 (CVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Role in the sentence - maço and mamão
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: maço is anoun and mamãoanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49141, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
maço is recorded at frequency rank #25,742, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈma.su/. mamão is at rank #23,399, tagged as anadj.
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 49141, this pair ranks #15,937 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of maço vs mamão
Shared letters: amo. Private to "maço": ç. Private to "mamão": ã.
"maço" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "mamão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "maço" and "mamão" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "maço" vs "mamão" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pair "maço" vs "mamão" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "maço" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mamão" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #15,937 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maço" and "mamão" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs maço". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #15,937 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.