Which to use
“mano” and “modo” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,493
- “mano” frequency rank
- #606
- “modo” frequency rank
- 4099
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mano | modo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | irmão (todas as acepções, exceto Religião) | maneira, jeito |
Where the eye mixes mano and modo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses mano with modo
A purely visual mix-up. mano (/ˈmã.nu/) and modo (/ˈmɔ.du/) 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 4099, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mano is recorded at frequency rank #3,493, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmã.nu/. modo is at rank #606, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɔ.du/.
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 4099, this pair ranks #70,918 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mano vs modo
Shared letters: mo. Private to "mano": an. Private to "modo": d.
"mano" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "modo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mano" and "modo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "mano" or "modo" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "mano" and "modo" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "mano" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "modo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #70,918 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mano" and "modo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs mano". 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 #70,918 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.