Which to use
“mais” is an adverb and “mask” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #23
- “mais” frequency rank
- #36,537
- “mask” frequency rank
- 36560
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mais | mask |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | avançadamente (designa aumento) | máscara |
Where the eye mixes mais and mask
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: mais vs mask
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mais is /mäjʃ/ while mask is /mæsk/. 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 (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36560, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mais is recorded at frequency rank #23, classified as anadv, pronounced /mäjʃ/. 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 36560, this pair ranks #30,219 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mais vs mask
Shared letters: ams. Private to "mais": i. Private to "mask": k.
"mais" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "mask" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mais" for "mask" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "mais" or "mask" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "mais" and "mask" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "mais" 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 #30,219 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mais" 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 #30,219 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.