Which to use
“mau” is an adjective and “may” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,936
- “mau” frequency rank
- #5,226
- “may” frequency rank
- 7162
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mau | may |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | que não é de boa qualidade, ruim | obter permissão. Também utilizado quando se deseja fazer um pedido, de maneira cortês. |
Where the eye mixes mau and may
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses mau with may
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mau is /ˈmaw/ while may is /meɪ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - u in “mau” becomes y in “may”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7162, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mau is recorded at frequency rank #1,936, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈmaw/. may is at rank #5,226, tagged as averb, pronounced /meɪ/.
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 7162, this pair ranks #67,039 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mau vs may
Shared letters: am. Private to "mau": u. Private to "may": y.
"mau" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "may" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mau" and "may" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "mau" or "may" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "mau" and "may" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "mau" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "may" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #67,039 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mau" and "may" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs may". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #67,039 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.