Which to use
“major” and “mãos” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,155
- “major” frequency rank
- #761
- “mãos” frequency rank
- 3916
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | major | mãos |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | patente das forças armadas | plural de mão |
Where the eye mixes major and mãos
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: major vs mãos
A purely visual mix-up. major (/ma.ˈʒɔɹ/) and mãos (/ˈmɐ̃w̃ʃ/) 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 3916, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
major is recorded at frequency rank #3,155, classified as anoun, pronounced /ma.ˈʒɔɹ/. mãos is at rank #761, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɐ̃w̃ʃ/.
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 3916, this pair ranks #71,157 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of major vs mãos
Shared letters: mo. Private to "major": ajr. Private to "mãos": sã.
"major" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "mãos" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- major ← amjor · majjor · majorr · majro · maojr · mjaor · mmajor
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "major" and "mãos" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "major" vs "mãos" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "major" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mãos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #71,157 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "major" and "mãos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs mãos". 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 #71,157 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.