Which to use
“mala” is a noun and “man” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,568
- “mala” frequency rank
- #2,736
- “man” frequency rank
- 7304
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mala | man |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | bolsa (geralmente de couro ou pano e com cadeado) usada para carregar dinheiro, documentos e outros objetos | se (atua como partícula de indeterminação do sujeito): |
Letter map: mala vs man
Shared letters muted; letters that set mala and man apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Grammar separator: mala vs man
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: mala is anoun and manapronoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7304, 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/. man is at rank #2,736, tagged as apron.
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 7304, this pair ranks #66,857 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mala vs man
Shared letters: am. Private to "mala": l. Private to "man": n.
"mala" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "man" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- mala ← maal · malla · mlaa · mmala
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mala" for "man" ever safe?
Frequency check: "mala" vs "man" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pair "mala" vs "man" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "mala" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "man" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #66,857 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mala" and "man" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs mala". 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 #66,857 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.