Which to use
“mat” and “mayo” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,805
- “mat” frequency rank
- #30,251
- “mayo” frequency rank
- 52056
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mat | mayo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | casamento | maio |
Where the eye mixes mat and mayo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. mat runs 3 letters (CVC) against mayo's 4 (CVVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between mat and mayo
A purely visual mix-up. mat (/mat/) and mayo (/ˈma.ʝo/) 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 52056, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mat is recorded at frequency rank #21,805, classified as anoun, pronounced /mat/. mayo is at rank #30,251, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈma.ʝo/.
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 52056, this pair ranks #13,076 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of mat vs mayo
Shared letters: am. Private to "mat": t. Private to "mayo": oy.
"mat" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "mayo" · 4 letters · shape CVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- mayo ← amyo · maoy · mayyo · mmayo · myao
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mat" for "mayo" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "mat" or "mayo" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "mat" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mayo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #13,076 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mat" and "mayo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs mayo". 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 #13,076 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.