Which to use
“mar” is a noun and “mau” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #828
- “mar” frequency rank
- #1,936
- “mau” frequency rank
- 2764
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mar | mau |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | grande quantidade de água salgada que cobre parte do planeta Terra, podendo estar localizada junto ou dentro de continentes | que não é de boa qualidade, ruim |
Where the eye mixes mar and mau
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: mar vs mau
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mar is /ˈmaɾ/ while mau is /ˈmaw/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - r in “mar” becomes u in “mau”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2764, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mar is recorded at frequency rank #828, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmaɾ/. mau is at rank #1,936, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈmaw/.
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 2764, this pair ranks #72,509 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mar vs mau
Shared letters: am. Private to "mar": r. Private to "mau": u.
"mar" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "mau" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mar" for "mau" ever safe?
Frequency check: "mar" vs "mau" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "mar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mau" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #72,509 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mar" and "mau" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs mau". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #72,509 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.