Which to use
“mamã” and “manta” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,037
- “mamã” frequency rank
- #18,109
- “manta” frequency rank
- 47146
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mamã | manta |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mãe | manto; cobertura; xale |
Where the eye mixes mamã and manta
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. mamã runs 4 letters (CVCV) against manta's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between mamã and manta
A purely visual mix-up. mamã (/mɜˈmɜ̃/) and manta (/ˈmɐ̃.tɐ/) 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 47146, 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/. manta is at rank #18,109, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɐ̃.tɐ/.
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 47146, this pair ranks #18,130 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of mamã vs manta
Shared letters: am. Private to "mamã": ã. Private to "manta": nt.
"mamã" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "manta" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- manta ← amnta · manat · mannta · mantta · matna · mmanta · mnata
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mamã" for "manta" ever safe?
Which is more common, "mamã" or "manta"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "mamã" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "manta" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #18,130 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mamã" and "manta" 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 #18,130 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.