Which to use
“mãe” and “mês” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #170
- “mãe” frequency rank
- #444
- “mês” frequency rank
- 614
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mãe | mês |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mulher que tem ou teve filhos, naturais ou adotivos | cada uma das doze partes em que se divide o ano |
Where the eye mixes mãe and mês
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. mãe (/ˈmɐ̃j̃/) and mês (/ˈmeʃ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 614, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mãe is recorded at frequency rank #170, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɐ̃j̃/. mês is at rank #444, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmeʃ/.
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 614, this pair ranks #75,058 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mãe vs mês
Shared letters: m. Private to "mãe": eã. Private to "mês": sê.
"mãe" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "mês" · 3 letters · shape CVC