Which to use
“mãe” is a noun and “meu” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #170
- “mãe” frequency rank
- #46
- “meu” frequency rank
- 216
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mãe | meu |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mulher que tem ou teve filhos, naturais ou adotivos | de posse da primeira pessoa do singular (eu); pertencente a mim |
Where the eye mixes mãe and meu
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mãe is /ˈmɐ̃j̃/ while meu is /ˈmew/. 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 pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 216, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mãe is recorded at frequency rank #170, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɐ̃j̃/. meu is at rank #46, tagged as apron, pronounced /ˈmew/.
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 216, this pair ranks #75,418 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mãe vs meu
Shared letters: em. Private to "mãe": ã. Private to "meu": u.
"mãe" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "meu" · 3 letters · shape CVV