Which to use
“mãe” and “mayo” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #170
- “mãe” frequency rank
- #30,251
- “mayo” frequency rank
- 30421
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mãe | mayo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mulher que tem ou teve filhos, naturais ou adotivos | maio |
Where the eye mixes mãe and mayo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses mãe with mayo
A purely visual mix-up. mãe (/ˈmɐ̃j̃/) and mayo (/ˈma.ʝo/) 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 30421, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mãe is recorded at frequency rank #170, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɐ̃j̃/. mayo is at rank #30,251, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈma.ʝo/.
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 30421, this pair ranks #37,925 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mãe vs mayo
Shared letters: m. Private to "mãe": eã. Private to "mayo": aoy.
"mãe" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "mayo" · 4 letters · shape CVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- mayo ← amyo · maoy · mayyo · mmayo · myao
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mãe" and "mayo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "mãe" vs "mayo" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "mãe" and "mayo" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "mãe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mayo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #37,925 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mãe" and "mayo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs mayo". 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 #37,925 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.