Which to use
“mara” is a noun and “mas” is a conjunction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,718
- “mara” frequency rank
- #25
- “mas” frequency rank
- 9743
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mara | mas |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | roedor que habita as estepes da Patagônia, na Argentina (Dolichotis patagonum) | conjunção adversativa, indica clara oposição entre ideias |
Where the eye mixes mara and mas
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses mara with mas
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mara is /ˈma.ɾɐ/ while mas is /ˈmɐʃ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs conjunction), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9743, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mara is recorded at frequency rank #9,718, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈma.ɾɐ/. mas is at rank #25, tagged as aconj, pronounced /ˈmɐʃ/.
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 9743, this pair ranks #63,577 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mara vs mas
Shared letters: am. Private to "mara": r. Private to "mas": s.
"mara" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "mas" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- mara ← marra · mmara · mraa
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mara" for "mas" ever safe?
Frequency check: "mara" vs "mas" - 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 "mara" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #63,577 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mara" and "mas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mara vs mirra". 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 #63,577 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.