maçovsmuchWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: maço is a noun, much is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#25,742
“maço” frequency rank
#17,584
“much” frequency rank
43326
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature maço much
Definition instrumento de madeira encabado para uso de carpinteiros, escultores, etc. muito

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set maço and much apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
maço
4 ch
much

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

maço and much form a confusable pair in the Portuguese index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43326, 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/. much is at rank #17,584, tagged as anadj, pronounced /mʌʧ/.

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 43326, this pair ranks #22,320 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Frequency comparison

maço#25,742
much#17,584

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "maço" and "much" be used interchangeably?
No, "maço" and "much" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering maço vs much

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “maço”; for an adjective, it's “much”.
  • 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

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list