magrovsmalhoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: magro is a adjective, malho is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“magro” is an adjective and “malho” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#10,924
“magro” frequency rank
#44,473
“malho” frequency rank
55397
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature magro malho
Definition não gordo, não cheio de carnes ferramenta com cabo de madeira e na extremidade uma peça de metal com uma superfície lisa, usada para bater pregos; martelo

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set magro and malho apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
magro
5 ch
malho

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: magro is anadjective and malhoanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55397, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

magro is recorded at frequency rank #10,924, classified as anadj. malho is at rank #44,473, tagged as anoun.

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 55397, this pair ranks #10,613 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of magro vs malho

Shared letters: amo. Private to "magro": gr. Private to "malho": hl.

"magro" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "malho" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • magroamgro · maggro · magor · magrro · margo · mgaro · mmagro
  • malhoamlho · mahlo · malhho · mallho · maloh · mlaho · mmalho

Frequency comparison

magro#10,924
malho#44,473

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "magro" and "malho" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "magro" is an adjective and "malho" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "magro" or "malho"?
"magro" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,924 in our Portuguese list, against #44,473 for "malho". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering magro vs malho

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “magro”; for a noun, it's “malho”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “magro” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list