Which to use
“maço” and “marca” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,742
- “maço” frequency rank
- #1,013
- “marca” frequency rank
- 26755
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maço | marca |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | instrumento de madeira encabado para uso de carpinteiros, escultores, etc. | ato ou efeito de marcar |
Where the eye mixes maço and marca
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. maço runs 4 letters (CVCV) against marca's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: maço vs marca
A purely visual mix-up. maço (/ˈma.su/) and marca (/ˈmaɾ.kɐ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26755, 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/. marca is at rank #1,013, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmaɾ.kɐ/.
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 26755, this pair ranks #42,334 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of maço vs marca
Shared letters: am. Private to "maço": oç. Private to "marca": cr.
"maço" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "marca" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- marca ← amrca · macra · marac · marcca · marrca · mmarca · mraca
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "maço" and "marca" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "maço" vs "marca" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "maço" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "marca" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #42,334 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maço" and "marca" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs maço". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #42,334 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.