mala vs malho, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“mala” and “malho” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#4,568
“mala” frequency rank: #44,473
“malho” frequency rank: 49041
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	mala	malho
Definition	bolsa (geralmente de couro ou pano e com cadeado) usada para carregar dinheiro, documentos e outros objetos	ferramenta com cabo de madeira e na extremidade uma peça de metal com uma superfície lisa, usada para bater pregos; martelo

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mala and malho apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch

mala

5 ch

malho

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

mala and malho are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49041, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mala is recorded at frequency rank #4,568, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈma.lɐ/. malho is at rank #44,473, tagged as anoun.

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 49041, this pair ranks #16,037 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of mala vs malho

Shared letters: alm. Private to "mala": -. Private to "malho": ho.

"mala" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "malho" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

mala ← maal · malla · mlaa · mmala
malho ← amlho · mahlo · malhho · mallho · maloh · mlaho · mmalho

Frequency comparison

mala#4,568

malho#44,473

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mala" and "malho" be used interchangeably?

No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.

Which is more common, "mala" or "malho"?

"mala" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,568 in our Portuguese list, against #44,473 for "malho". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering mala vs malho

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “mala” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable