mauvsminWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: mau is a adjective, min is a symbol, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“mau” is an adjective and “min” is a symbol - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,936
“mau” frequency rank
#4,495
“min” frequency rank
6431
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mau min
Definition que não é de boa qualidade, ruim símbolo de minuto

Letter map: mau vs min

Shared letters muted; letters that set mau and min apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
mau
3 ch
min

Grammar separator: mau vs min

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: mau is anadjective and minasymbol. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6431, 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/. min is at rank #4,495, tagged as asymbol.

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 6431, this pair ranks #68,006 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mau vs min

Shared letters: m. Private to "mau": au. Private to "min": in.

"mau" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "min" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "mau" for "min" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mau" is an adjective and "min" a symbol, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "mau" vs "min" - which ranks higher?
"mau" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,936 in our Portuguese list, against #4,495 for "min". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pair "mau" vs "min" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mau" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "min" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #68,006 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mau" and "min" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs min". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #68,006 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