matovsmutoWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#1,821
“mato” frequency rank
#43,549
“muto” frequency rank
45370
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mato muto
Definition área não cultivada e coberta de plantas agrestes mudar algo de sítio, remover.

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
mato
4 ch
muto

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mato is /ˈma.tʊ/ while muto is /ˈmuː.toː/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “mato” becomes u in “muto”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45370, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mato is recorded at frequency rank #1,821, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈma.tʊ/. muto is at rank #43,549, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈmuː.toː/.

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 45370, this pair ranks #20,032 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mato vs muto

Shared letters: mot. Private to "mato": a. Private to "muto": u.

"mato" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "muto" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • matoamto · maot · matto · mmato · mtao
  • mutommuto · mtuo · muot · mutto · umto

Frequency comparison

mato#1,821
muto#43,549

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mato" and "muto" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mato" is a noun and "muto" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "mato" or "muto"?
"mato" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,821 in our Portuguese list, against #43,549 for "muto". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering mato vs muto

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “mato”; for a verb, it's “muto”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “mato” 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