Which to use
“master” is an adjective and “mater” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,446
- “master” frequency rank
- #31,868
- “mater” frequency rank
- 38314
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | master | mater |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | principal | maternidade, estabelecimento público ou privado destinado a receber mulheres que estão a ponto de dar a luz |
Letter map: master vs mater
Shared letters muted; letters that set master and mater apart highlighted. Shared run: 5.
Grammar separator: master vs mater
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: master is anadjective and materanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38314, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
master is recorded at frequency rank #6,446, classified as anadj. mater is at rank #31,868, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ma.tɛʁ/.
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 38314, this pair ranks #28,164 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of master vs mater
Shared letters: aemrt. Private to "master": s. Private to "mater": -.
"master" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "mater" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "master" and "mater" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "master" or "mater" show up more?
What to do next
You've compared "master" and "mater". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "master" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mater" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #28,164 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "master" and "mater" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mater vs matiz". 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 #28,164 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.