matasvsmetaisWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“matas” and “metais” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#10,927
“matas” frequency rank
#8,788
“metais” frequency rank
19715
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature matas metais
Definition plural de mata instrumentos musicais de latão, e que geralmente compõem uma orquestra

Letter map: matas vs metais

Shared letters muted; letters that set matas and metais apart highlighted. Shared run: 4. matas runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against metais's 6 (CVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
matas
6 ch
metais

Spelling & dictionary notes on matas vs metais

matas and metais are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19715, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

matas is recorded at frequency rank #10,927, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈma.tɐʃ/. metais is at rank #8,788, tagged as anoun.

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 19715, this pair ranks #50,955 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of matas vs metais

Shared letters: amst. Private to "matas": -. Private to "metais": ei.

"matas" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "metais" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • matas ← amtas · maats · matass · matsa · mattas · mmatas · mtaas
  • metais ← emtais · meatis · metaiss · metasi · metias · mettais · mmetais · mteais

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "matas" for "metais" ever safe?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "matas" vs "metais" - which ranks higher?
"metais" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,788 in our Portuguese list, against #10,927 for "matas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "matas" and "metais".

  • Full dictionary entry for "matas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "metais" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #50,955 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "matas" and "metais" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs matas". 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 #50,955 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