Which to use
“mas” is a conjunction and “mim” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #25
- “mas” frequency rank
- #113
- “mim” frequency rank
- 138
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mas | mim |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | conjunção adversativa, indica clara oposição entre ideias | caso oblíquo do pronome pessoal da primeira pessoa, usado após preposições (a, ante, após, até, contra, de, desde, entre, para, por, sem, sobre) |
Where the eye mixes mas and mim
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: mas vs mim
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mas is /ˈmɐʃ/ while mim is /ˈmĩ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (conjunction vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 138, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mas is recorded at frequency rank #25, classified as aconj, pronounced /ˈmɐʃ/. mim is at rank #113, tagged as apron, pronounced /ˈmĩ/.
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 138, this pair ranks #75,517 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mas vs mim
Shared letters: m. Private to "mas": as. Private to "mim": i.
"mas" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "mim" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mas" for "mim" ever safe?
Which is more common, "mas" or "mim"?
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 "mas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mim" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #75,517 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mas" and "mim" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs mim". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #75,517 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.