Which to use
“maior” is an adjective and “maison” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #140
- “maior” frequency rank
- #22,380
- “maison” frequency rank
- 22520
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maior | maison |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | qualidade relativa ao que tem mais altura, volume, massa, idade, duração, intensidade, dimensão, extensão, calibre que outra coisa ou pessoa | casa |
Where the eye mixes maior and maison
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between maior and maison
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: maior is /mɐj.ˈɔɾ/ while maison is /mɛ.zɔ̃/~/me.zɔ̃/. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22520, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
maior is recorded at frequency rank #140, classified as anadj, pronounced /mɐj.ˈɔɾ/. maison is at rank #22,380, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mɛ.zɔ̃/~/me.zɔ̃/.
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 22520, this pair ranks #47,525 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of maior vs maison
Shared letters: aimo. Private to "maior": r. Private to "maison": ns.
"maior" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC · "maison" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "maior" and "maison" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "maior" or "maison"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "maior" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "maison" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #47,525 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maior" and "maison" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maison vs manso". 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 #47,525 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.