Which to use
“maio” and “mar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #523
- “maio” frequency rank
- #828
- “mar” frequency rank
- 1351
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maio | mar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | quinto mês do ano civil, formado por 31 dias | grande quantidade de água salgada que cobre parte do planeta Terra, podendo estar localizada junto ou dentro de continentes |
Where the eye mixes maio and mar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses maio with mar
A purely visual mix-up. maio (/ˈmaj.ju/) and mar (/ˈmaɾ/) 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 1351, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
maio is recorded at frequency rank #523, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmaj.ju/. mar is at rank #828, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmaɾ/.
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 1351, this pair ranks #74,235 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of maio vs mar
Shared letters: am. Private to "maio": io. Private to "mar": r.
"maio" · 4 letters · shape CVVV · "mar" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- maio ← amio · maoi · miao · mmaio
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "maio" and "mar" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "maio" vs "mar" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "maio" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #74,235 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maio" and "mar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs mar". 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 #74,235 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.