matvsmitWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: mat is a noun, mit is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“mat” is a noun and “mit” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#21,805
“mat” frequency rank
#13,791
“mit” frequency rank
35596
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mat mit
Definition casamento também

Where the eye mixes mat and mit

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
mat
3 ch
mit

Look-alike desk: mat vs mit

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mat is /mat/ while mit is /mɪt/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “mat” becomes i in “mit”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35596, 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/. mit is at rank #13,791, tagged as anadv, pronounced /mɪt/.

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 35596, this pair ranks #31,432 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mat vs mit

Shared letters: mt. Private to "mat": a. Private to "mit": i.

"mat" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "mit" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "mat" and "mit" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mat" is a noun and "mit" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "mat" or "mit"?
"mit" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,791 in our Portuguese list, against #21,805 for "mat". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "mat" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mit" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #31,432 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mat" and "mit" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs mat". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #31,432 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list