Which to use
“mat” and “mer” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,805
- “mat” frequency rank
- #22,090
- “mer” frequency rank
- 43895
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mat | mer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | casamento | mar |
Where the eye mixes mat and mer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. mat and mer follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: mat vs mer
A purely visual mix-up. mat (/mat/) and mer (/mɛʁ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43895, 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/. mer is at rank #22,090, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mɛʁ/.
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 43895, this pair ranks #21,674 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mat vs mer
Shared letters: m. Private to "mat": at. Private to "mer": er.
"mat" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "mer" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mat" and "mer" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "mat" or "mer" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "mat" and "mer" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "mat" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #21,674 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mat" and "mer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs mer". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #21,674 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.