Which to use
“may” is a verb and “mer” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,226
- “may” frequency rank
- #22,090
- “mer” frequency rank
- 27316
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | may | mer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | obter permissão. Também utilizado quando se deseja fazer um pedido, de maneira cortês. | mar |
Where the eye mixes may and mer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: may vs mer
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: may is /meɪ/ while mer is /mɛʁ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27316, 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/. mer is at rank #22,090, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mɛʁ/.
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 27316, this pair ranks #41,685 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of may vs mer
Shared letters: m. Private to "may": ay. Private to "mer": er.
"may" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "mer" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "may" and "mer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "may" or "mer" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "may" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #41,685 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "may" and "mer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs mer". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #41,685 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.