malovsmutoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: malo is a adjective, muto is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“malo” is an adjective and “muto” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#41,118
“malo” frequency rank
#43,549
“muto” frequency rank
84667
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature malo muto
Definition mau, malévolo: mudar algo de sítio, remover.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set malo and muto apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
malo
4 ch
muto

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: malo is anadjective and mutoaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 84667, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

malo is recorded at frequency rank #41,118, classified as anadj. muto is at rank #43,549, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈmuː.toː/.

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 84667, this pair ranks #762 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of malo vs muto

Shared letters: mo. Private to "malo": al. Private to "muto": tu.

"malo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "muto" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • maloamlo · mallo · maol · mlao · mmalo
  • mutommuto · mtuo · muot · mutto · umto

Frequency comparison

malo#41,118
muto#43,549

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "malo" and "muto" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "malo" is an adjective and "muto" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "malo" or "muto"?
"malo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #41,118 in our Portuguese list, against #43,549 for "muto". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering malo vs muto

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “malo”; for a verb, it's “muto”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “malo” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list