Which to use
“mãe” is a noun and “moer” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #170
- “mãe” frequency rank
- #33,946
- “moer” frequency rank
- 34116
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mãe | moer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mulher que tem ou teve filhos, naturais ou adotivos | reduzir a pó por meio de moinho |
Where the eye mixes mãe and moer
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 moer is /ˈmweɾ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34116, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mãe is recorded at frequency rank #170, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɐ̃j̃/. moer is at rank #33,946, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈmweɾ/.
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 34116, this pair ranks #33,235 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mãe vs moer
Shared letters: em. Private to "mãe": ã. Private to "moer": or.
"mãe" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "moer" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- moer ← mmoer · moerr · more · omer