MannvsmaskWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#25,039
“Mann” frequency rank
#36,537
“mask” frequency rank
61576
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Mann mask
Definition indivíduo adulto do sexo masculino máscara

Where the eye mixes Mann and mask

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

4 ch
Mann
4 ch
mask

Look-alike desk: Mann vs mask

A purely visual mix-up. Mann (/man/ ouvir^(fonte ?)) and mask (/mæsk/) 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 61576, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Mann is recorded at frequency rank #25,039, classified as anoun, pronounced /man/ ouvir^(fonte ?). mask is at rank #36,537, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mæsk/.

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 61576, this pair ranks #7,080 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Mann vs mask

Shared letters: am. Private to "Mann": n. Private to "mask": ks.

"Mann" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "mask" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Mann ← amnn · mmann · mnan
  • mask ← amsk · maks · maskk · massk · mmask · msak

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Mann" and "mask" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/man/ ouvir^(fonte ?) versus /mæsk/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Mann" vs "mask" - which ranks higher?
"Mann" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,039 in our Portuguese list, against #36,537 for "mask". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Mann" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mask" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #7,080 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Mann" and "mask" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs mask". 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 #7,080 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