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 |
Letter map: mala vs malho
Shared letters muted; letters that set mala and malho apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. mala runs 4 letters (CVCV) against malho's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Spelling & dictionary notes on mala vs malho
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
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mala" and "malho" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "mala" or "malho" show up more?
Useful next steps
You've compared "mala" and "malho". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "mala" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "malho" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #16,037 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mala" and "malho" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "malho vs malva". 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 #16,037 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.