Which to use
“mãos” is a noun and “mate” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #761
- “mãos” frequency rank
- #7,048
- “mate” frequency rank
- 7809
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mãos | mate |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural de mão | sem brilho |
Where the eye mixes mãos and mate
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. mãos (CVVC) and mate (CVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: mãos vs mate
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mãos is /ˈmɐ̃w̃ʃ/ while mate is /ˈma.tɨ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7809, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mãos is recorded at frequency rank #761, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɐ̃w̃ʃ/. mate is at rank #7,048, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈma.tɨ/.
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 7809, this pair ranks #66,233 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mãos vs mate
Shared letters: m. Private to "mãos": osã. Private to "mate": aet.
"mãos" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "mate" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- mate ← amte · maet · matte · mmate · mtae
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mãos" for "mate" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "mãos" or "mate" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "mãos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mate" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #66,233 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mãos" and "mate" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs mate". 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 #66,233 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.