Which to use
“mask” and “must” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,537
- “mask” frequency rank
- #17,586
- “must” frequency rank
- 54123
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mask | must |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | máscara | algo necessário, geralmente por estar na moda, por ser muito popular ou básico |
Letter map: mask vs must
Shared letters muted; letters that set mask and must apart highlighted. Shared run: 2. mask and must follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Corpus notes: mask and must
mask and must are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54123, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mask is recorded at frequency rank #36,537, classified as anoun, pronounced /mæsk/. must is at rank #17,586, tagged as anoun.
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 54123, this pair ranks #11,528 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of mask vs must
Shared letters: ms. Private to "mask": ak. Private to "must": tu.
"mask" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "must" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mask" for "must" ever safe?
Which is more common, "mask" or "must"?
What to do next
You've compared "mask" and "must". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "mask" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "must" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #11,528 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mask" and "must" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs mask". 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 #11,528 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.