mamão vs mão, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“mamão” is an adjective and “mão” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#23,399
“mamão” frequency rank: #451
“mão” frequency rank: 23850
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	mamão	mão
Definition	que mama muito	extremidade do membro anterior dos primatas, capaz de manipular objetos; parte do corpo semelhante ou análoga em outros animais

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mamão and mão apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

mamão

3 ch

mão

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: mamão is anadjective and mãoanoun. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “mão” sits inside “mamão”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23850, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mamão is recorded at frequency rank #23,399, classified as anadj. mão is at rank #451, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mãw/.

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 23850, this pair ranks #45,889 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mamão vs mão

Shared letters: moã. Private to "mamão": a. Private to "mão": -.

"mamão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "mão" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequency comparison

mamão#23,399

mão#451

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mamão" and "mão" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mamão" is an adjective and "mão" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "mamão" or "mão"?

"mão" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #451 in our Portuguese list, against #23,399 for "mamão". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering mamão vs mão

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “mamão”; for a noun, it's “mão”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “mamão” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable