Which to use
“maia” is an adjective and “mein” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,341
- “maia” frequency rank
- #36,545
- “mein” frequency rank
- 39886
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maia | mein |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | relativo a maia ou aos maias | meu, minha, pronome possessivo da primeira pessoa do singular: |
Where the eye mixes maia and mein
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. maia (CVVV) and mein (CVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses maia with mein
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: maia is /ˈmaj.ɐ/ while mein is /maɪ̯n/ ouvir^(fonte ?). 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 (adjective vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39886, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
maia is recorded at frequency rank #3,341, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈmaj.ɐ/. mein is at rank #36,545, tagged as apron, pronounced /maɪ̯n/ ouvir^(fonte ?).
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 39886, this pair ranks #26,297 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of maia vs mein
Shared letters: im. Private to "maia": a. Private to "mein": en.
"maia" · 4 letters · shape CVVV · "mein" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "maia" for "mein" ever safe?
Which is more common, "maia" or "mein"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "maia" and "mein" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "maia" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mein" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #26,297 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maia" and "mein" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mein vs mens". 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 #26,297 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.