Which to use
“matam” is a verb and “mater” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,546
- “matam” frequency rank
- #31,868
- “mater” frequency rank
- 39414
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | matam | mater |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | terceira pessoa do plural do presente do indicativo do verbo matar | maternidade, estabelecimento público ou privado destinado a receber mulheres que estão a ponto de dar a luz |
Where the eye mixes matam and mater
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. matam and mater follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: matam vs mater
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: matam is /ˈma.tɐ̃ʊm/ while mater is /ma.tɛʁ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39414, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
matam is recorded at frequency rank #7,546, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈma.tɐ̃ʊm/. 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 39414, this pair ranks #26,846 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of matam vs mater
Shared letters: amt. Private to "matam": -. Private to "mater": er.
"matam" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "mater" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "matam" and "mater" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "matam" or "mater"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "matam" and "mater" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "matam" 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 #26,846 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "matam" 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 #26,846 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.