mãovsmixWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#451
“mão” frequency rank
#4,744
“mix” frequency rank
5195
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Letter map: mão vs mix

Shared letters muted; letters that set mão and mix apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
mão
3 ch
mix

Corpus notes: mão and mix

mão and mix are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5195, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mão is recorded at frequency rank #451, classified as anoun, pronounced /mãw/. mix is at rank #4,744, tagged as anoun.

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 5195, this pair ranks #69,482 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mão vs mix

Shared letters: m. Private to "mão": . Private to "mix": ix.

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "mão" for "mix" ever safe?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "mão" or "mix" show up more?
"mão" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #451 in our Portuguese list, against #4,744 for "mix". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

You've compared "mão" and "mix". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mix" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #69,482 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mão" and "mix" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs mix". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #69,482 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