Which to use
“mãe” is a noun and “mau” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #170
- “mãe” frequency rank
- #1,936
- “mau” frequency rank
- 2106
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mãe | mau |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mulher que tem ou teve filhos, naturais ou adotivos | que não é de boa qualidade, ruim |
Where the eye mixes mãe and mau
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mãe is /ˈmɐ̃j̃/ while mau is /ˈmaw/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2106, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mãe is recorded at frequency rank #170, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɐ̃j̃/. mau is at rank #1,936, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈmaw/.
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 2106, this pair ranks #73,381 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mãe vs mau
Shared letters: m. Private to "mãe": eã. Private to "mau": au.
"mãe" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "mau" · 3 letters · shape CVV