Which to use
“mamã” is a noun and “mamão” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #29,037
- “mamã” frequency rank
- #23,399
- “mamão” frequency rank
- 52436
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mamã | mamão |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mãe | que mama muito |
Letter map: mamã vs mamão
Shared letters muted; letters that set mamã and mamão apart highlighted. Shared run: 4. mamã runs 4 letters (CVCV) against mamão's 5 (CVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Role in the sentence - mamã and mamão
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: mamã is anoun and mamãoanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “mamã” sits inside “mamão”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52436, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mamã is recorded at frequency rank #29,037, classified as anoun, pronounced /mɜˈmɜ̃/. mamão is at rank #23,399, 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 52436, this pair ranks #12,762 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of mamã vs mamão
Shared letters: amã. Private to "mamã": -. Private to "mamão": o.
"mamã" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "mamão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mamã" and "mamão" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "mamã" or "mamão" show up more?
What to do next
Pair "mamã" vs "mamão" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "mamã" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mamão" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #12,762 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mamã" and "mamão" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs mamã". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #12,762 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.