Which to use
“Mai” and “mayo” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,369
- “Mai” frequency rank
- #30,251
- “mayo” frequency rank
- 39620
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Mai | mayo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | maio | maio |
Where the eye mixes Mai and mayo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Mai runs 3 letters (CVV) against mayo's 4 (CVVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between Mai and mayo
A purely visual mix-up. Mai (/maɪ̯/) 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 39620, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Mai is recorded at frequency rank #9,369, classified as anoun, pronounced /maɪ̯/. 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 39620, this pair ranks #26,600 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Mai vs mayo
Shared letters: am. Private to "Mai": i. Private to "mayo": oy.
"Mai" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "mayo" · 4 letters · shape CVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- mayo ← amyo · maoy · mayyo · mmayo · myao
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Mai" for "mayo" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Mai" or "mayo"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "Mai" and "mayo" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Mai" 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 #26,600 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Mai" 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 #26,600 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.