Which to use
“maio” is a noun and “mas” is a conjunction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #523
- “maio” frequency rank
- #25
- “mas” frequency rank
- 548
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maio | mas |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | quinto mês do ano civil, formado por 31 dias | conjunção adversativa, indica clara oposição entre ideias |
Where the eye mixes maio and mas
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: maio vs mas
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: maio is /ˈmaj.ju/ while mas is /ˈmɐʃ/. 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 conjunction), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 548, 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/. mas is at rank #25, tagged as aconj, pronounced /ˈmɐʃ/.
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 548, this pair ranks #75,123 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of maio vs mas
Shared letters: am. Private to "maio": io. Private to "mas": s.
"maio" · 4 letters · shape CVVV · "mas" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- maio ← amio · maoi · miao · mmaio
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "maio" and "mas" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "maio" or "mas"?
What to do next
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 "mas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #75,123 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maio" and "mas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs maio". 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 #75,123 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.