Which to use
“mamã” and “mania” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,037
- “mamã” frequency rank
- #10,393
- “mania” frequency rank
- 39430
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mamã | mania |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mãe | espécie de loucura com tendências para a excitação |
Where the eye mixes mamã and mania
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. mamã runs 4 letters (CVCV) against mania's 5 (CVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses mamã with mania
A purely visual mix-up. mamã (/mɜˈmɜ̃/) and mania (/mɐ.ˈni.ɐ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39430, 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/. mania is at rank #10,393, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mɐ.ˈni.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 39430, this pair ranks #26,810 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mamã vs mania
Shared letters: am. Private to "mamã": ã. Private to "mania": in.
"mamã" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "mania" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- mania ← amnia · maina · manai · mannia · mmania · mnaia
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mamã" and "mania" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "mamã" or "mania"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "mamã" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mania" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #26,810 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mamã" and "mania" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs mamã". 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 #26,810 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.