Which to use
“malho” is a noun and “malo” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,473
- “malho” frequency rank
- #41,118
- “malo” frequency rank
- 85591
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | malho | malo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ferramenta com cabo de madeira e na extremidade uma peça de metal com uma superfície lisa, usada para bater pregos; martelo | mau, malévolo: |
Letter map: malho vs malo
Shared letters muted; letters that set malho and malo apart highlighted. Shared run: 4. malho runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against malo's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Role in the sentence - malho and malo
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: malho is anoun and maloanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 85591, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
malho is recorded at frequency rank #44,473, classified as anoun. malo is at rank #41,118, tagged as anadj.
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 85591, this pair ranks #674 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of malho vs malo
Shared letters: almo. Private to "malho": h. Private to "malo": -.
"malho" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "malo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "malho" and "malo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "malho" vs "malo" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pair "malho" vs "malo" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "malho" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "malo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #674 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "malho" and "malo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs malo". 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 #674 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.