mamãvsmaréConfusable pair

Which to use

“mamã” and “maré” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#29,037
“mamã” frequency rank
#7,659
“maré” frequency rank
36696
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mamã maré
Definition mãe movimento periódico de subida e descida das águas do mar

Where the eye mixes mamã and maré

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. mamã and maré follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

4 ch
mamã
4 ch
maré

Look-alike desk: mamã vs maré

A purely visual mix-up. mamã (/mɜˈmɜ̃/) and maré (/mɐ.ˈɾɛ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36696, 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/. maré is at rank #7,659, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mɐ.ˈɾɛ/.

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 36696, this pair ranks #30,052 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mamã vs maré

Shared letters: am. Private to "mamã": ã. Private to "maré": ré.

"mamã" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "maré" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "mamã" for "maré" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/mɜˈmɜ̃/ versus /mɐ.ˈɾɛ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "mamã" vs "maré" - which ranks higher?
"maré" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,659 in our Portuguese list, against #29,037 for "mamã". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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 "maré" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #30,052 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mamã" and "maré" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs mamã". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #30,052 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list