Which to use
“maio” and “mask” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #523
- “maio” frequency rank
- #36,537
- “mask” frequency rank
- 37060
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maio | mask |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | quinto mês do ano civil, formado por 31 dias | máscara |
Where the eye mixes maio and mask
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. maio (CVVV) and mask (CVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: maio vs mask
A purely visual mix-up. maio (/ˈmaj.ju/) and mask (/mæsk/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37060, 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/. mask is at rank #36,537, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mæsk/.
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 37060, this pair ranks #29,631 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of maio vs mask
Shared letters: am. Private to "maio": io. Private to "mask": ks.
"maio" · 4 letters · shape CVVV · "mask" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "maio" and "mask" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "maio" or "mask" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "maio" and "mask" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "maio" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mask" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #29,631 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maio" and "mask" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs mask". 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 #29,631 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.