Which to use
“maço” is a noun and “matou” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #25,742
- “maço” frequency rank
- #2,691
- “matou” frequency rank
- 28433
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maço | matou |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | instrumento de madeira encabado para uso de carpinteiros, escultores, etc. | terceira pessoa do singular do pretérito perfeito do indicativo do verbo matar |
Where the eye mixes maço and matou
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses maço with matou
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: maço is /ˈma.su/ while matou is /ma.ˈtoʊ/. 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 28433, 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/. matou is at rank #2,691, tagged as averb, pronounced /ma.ˈtoʊ/.
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 28433, this pair ranks #40,375 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of maço vs matou
Shared letters: amo. Private to "maço": ç. Private to "matou": tu.
"maço" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "matou" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- matou ← amtou · maotu · mattou · matuo · mmatou · mtaou
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "maço" and "matou" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "maço" or "matou" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "maço" and "matou" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "maço" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "matou" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #40,375 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maço" and "matou" 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 #40,375 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.