matervsmexerWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: mater is a noun, mexer is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“mater” is a noun and “mexer” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,868
“mater” frequency rank
#3,498
“mexer” frequency rank
35366
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mater mexer
Definition maternidade, estabelecimento público ou privado destinado a receber mulheres que estão a ponto de dar a luz misturar, agitar, revolver

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mater and mexer apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
mater
5 ch
mexer

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: mater is anoun and mexeraverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35366, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mater is recorded at frequency rank #31,868, classified as anoun, pronounced /ma.tɛʁ/. mexer is at rank #3,498, tagged as averb.

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 35366, this pair ranks #31,687 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mater vs mexer

Shared letters: emr. Private to "mater": at. Private to "mexer": x.

"mater" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "mexer" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • materamter · maetr · materr · mmater · mtaer
  • mexeremxer · meexr · mexerr · mexre · mexxer · mmexer · mxeer

Frequency comparison

mater#31,868
mexer#3,498

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mater" and "mexer" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mater" is a noun and "mexer" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "mater" or "mexer"?
"mexer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,498 in our Portuguese list, against #31,868 for "mater". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering mater vs mexer

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “mater”; for a verb, it's “mexer”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “mater” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list