Which to use
“mara” and “mat” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,718
- “mara” frequency rank
- #21,805
- “mat” frequency rank
- 31523
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mara | mat |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | roedor que habita as estepes da Patagônia, na Argentina (Dolichotis patagonum) | casamento |
Where the eye mixes mara and mat
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses mara with mat
A purely visual mix-up. mara (/ˈma.ɾɐ/) and mat (/mat/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31523, 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/. mat is at rank #21,805, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mat/.
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 31523, this pair ranks #36,513 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mara vs mat
Shared letters: am. Private to "mara": r. Private to "mat": t.
"mara" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "mat" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- mara ← marra · mmara · mraa
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mara" and "mat" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "mara" vs "mat" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
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 "mat" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #36,513 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mara" and "mat" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs mat". 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 #36,513 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.