mãovsmitConfusable pair

Quick tell: mão is a noun, mit is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#451
“mão” frequency rank
#13,791
“mit” frequency rank
14242
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mão mit
Definition extremidade do membro anterior dos primatas, capaz de manipular objetos; parte do corpo semelhante ou análoga em outros animais também

Where the eye mixes mão and mit

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
mão
3 ch
mit

Look-alike desk: mão vs mit

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mão is /mãw/ while mit is /mɪt/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14242, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mão is recorded at frequency rank #451, classified as anoun, pronounced /mãw/. mit is at rank #13,791, tagged as anadv, pronounced /mɪt/.

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 14242, this pair ranks #57,910 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mão vs mit

Shared letters: m. Private to "mão": . Private to "mit": it.

"mão" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "mit" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "mão" for "mit" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mão" is a noun and "mit" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "mão" or "mit"?
"mão" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #451 in our Portuguese list, against #13,791 for "mit". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "mão" and "mit" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mit" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #57,910 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mão" and "mit" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs mit". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #57,910 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