Which to use
“may” is a verb and “mec” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,226
- “may” frequency rank
- #8,225
- “mec” frequency rank
- 13451
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | may | mec |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | obter permissão. Também utilizado quando se deseja fazer um pedido, de maneira cortês. | tranquilo |
Letter map: may vs mec
Shared letters muted; letters that set may and mec apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.
Role in the sentence - may and mec
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: may is averb and mecanadjective. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13451, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
may is recorded at frequency rank #5,226, classified as averb, pronounced /meɪ/. mec is at rank #8,225, tagged as anadj.
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 13451, this pair ranks #58,883 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of may vs mec
Shared letters: m. Private to "may": ay. Private to "mec": ce.
"may" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "mec" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "may" and "mec" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "may" or "mec" show up more?
What to do next
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "may" and "mec".
- Full dictionary entry for "may" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mec" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #58,883 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "may" and "mec" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs mec". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #58,883 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.