mamãvsmodaConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#29,037
“mamã” frequency rank
#2,154
“moda” frequency rank
31191
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mamã moda
Definition mãe uso passageiro que regula, de acordo com o gosto do momento, a forma de viver, de vestir, etc

Where the eye mixes mamã and moda

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
mamã
4 ch
moda

Visual trap between mamã and moda

A purely visual mix-up. mamã (/mɜˈmɜ̃/) and moda (/ˈmɔ.dɐ/) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31191, 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/. moda is at rank #2,154, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɔ.dɐ/.

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 31191, this pair ranks #36,975 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mamã vs moda

Shared letters: am. Private to "mamã": ã. Private to "moda": do.

"mamã" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "moda" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • modamdoa · mmoda · moad · modda · omda

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mamã" and "moda" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/mɜˈmɜ̃/ versus /ˈmɔ.dɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "mamã" or "moda" show up more?
"moda" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,154 in our Portuguese list, against #29,037 for "mamã". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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 "moda" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #36,975 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mamã" and "moda" 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 #36,975 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