Which to use
“malária” is a noun and “mataria” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,784
- “malária” frequency rank
- #25,042
- “mataria” frequency rank
- 38826
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | malária | mataria |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | doença infecciosa endêmica em muitas regiões tropicais e subtropicais do mundo, causada por um parasita, protozoário do gênero Plasmodium (da família plasmodiidae), transmitida aos seres humanos por meio da picada do mosquito Anopheles infectado ou ainda através de transmissão congênita (da mãe para o feto), por transfusão sanguínea ou hemoderivados e por uso de agulhas e seringas contaminada | primeira e terceira pessoa do singular do futuro do pretérito do verbo matar |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set malária and mataria apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
malária and mataria form a confusable pair in the Portuguese index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38826, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
malária is recorded at frequency rank #13,784, classified as anoun, pronounced /mɐ.ˈla.ɾjɐ/. mataria is at rank #25,042, tagged as averb, pronounced /ma.ta.ˈɾi.ɐ/.
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 38826, this pair ranks #27,564 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "malária" and "mataria" be used interchangeably?
Remembering malária vs mataria
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “malária”; for a verb, it's “mataria”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “malária” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable