maço vs memo, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“maço” is a noun and “memo” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#25,742
“maço” frequency rank: #35,681
“memo” frequency rank: 61423
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	maço	memo
Definition	instrumento de madeira encabado para uso de carpinteiros, escultores, etc.	mesmo

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set maço and memo apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch

maço

4 ch

memo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: maço is anoun and memoanadverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61423, 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/. memo is at rank #35,681, tagged as anadv.

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 61423, this pair ranks #7,145 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of maço vs memo

Shared letters: mo. Private to "maço": aç. Private to "memo": e.

"maço" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "memo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

memo ← emmo · memmo · meom · mmemo · mmeo

Frequency comparison

maço#25,742

memo#35,681

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "maço" and "memo" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "maço" is a noun and "memo" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "maço" or "memo"?

"maço" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,742 in our Portuguese list, against #35,681 for "memo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering maço vs memo

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “maço”; for an adverb, it's “memo”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “maço” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable